


After All is Said and Done

by barton_lover



Series: After /Clint Is [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Awesome Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Deaf Clint Barton, Depression, Distrust, Insecure Clint Barton, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Kidnapping, Poor Clint Barton, Protective Avengers, Sick Clint Barton, Suicide Attempt, Threats, Worried Pepper Potts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 76,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22898242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barton_lover/pseuds/barton_lover
Summary: When Clint Barton gets ill, he goes all out.  It becomes a race against time to keep the archer alive.  But along the way, Clint's ears stop working.  And he maybe hallucinates seeing a dead man, only to find out he didn't!  Why can't the team trust Clint to know that the archer knows what he is doing?  Thankfully, JARVIS is on Clint's side and will do all he can to help.  Even if it has a small chance of endangering the archer and the other Avengers.
Series: After /Clint Is [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525922
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	1. Not A Good Idea

He could feel it. In every fiber of his body. The sudden off-ness that made one question what was happening. He hated it. Hated every second of what he knew was about to come. But the worst was always the warning feelings he got. He'd just wake up one morning and something wouldn't feel right. Not that anything was wrong, just felt weird. Then it would progress until finally it hit him. Clint Barton was getting sick.

It was still too early to tell what sickness would be plaguing him within the next day or so. Or even how long it would last. Hell, Clint couldn't even fully tell when it would start. For all he knew he could be eating dinner with the other Avengers and then barf up the whole meal. Hopefully it didn’t come to that. He hated when people knew he was sick. Natasha and Coulson had found that out the hard way. He was not a good patient. But no matter, the one thing Clint did know, based on how he felt, was that when this sickness hit, it would be hard and fast.

\----------

It was two days after Clint realized that he was getting sick that it hit. Thankfully he was alone at the time. His alarm had just gone off, letting him know it was time to head to the archery range. But he never even left the room (apartment) that Tony had given to him when he moved in. Hell, he almost didn't even make it to the bathroom before redecorating the tile floor.

It took about a minute or two for him to fully finish heaving everything out of his stomach. And once he did, he stood there for a few moments, staring at the mess he made, wondering if more was coming. His legs shook and it seemed like the rest of his body was frozen. Not a single muscle wanted to move. It didn't frighten him. Hell, this was a normal feeling after he vomits because of a normal sickness. If he vomited because of drugs, then he could recover in seconds. But normal sickness threw his system enough to pause. Didn’t know why it was like that. Just, he couldn’t even pretend to act okay when he was sick. He just visually suffered. Another minute passed before...

"Agent Barton, do you need assistance?" JARVIS called through a speaker placed somewhere nearby. Clint jerked up at the noise but the movement was too fast and his head disagreed so badly that the decision to add more to the mess at his feet was finalized. JARVIS stayed silent as the AI listened to the archer vomiting. For times like this the AI was glad he wasn't human. It took less time for Clint to finish this round. JARVIS could only assume it was because the human stomach couldn't contain much more crap then what was already on the bathroom floor. Groaning, Clint backed away from the bathroom and dropped to the ground, just outside the door. He turned and faced into his room, rather then the mess behind him. This new angle allowed him to lean back against the wall.

"No... I'll be fine," Clint finally responded. His head was pounding, his throat was now sore, dry and nasty feeling, and worst of all, his stomach still claimed that something was inside that needed out. There was also a slight pain in his ears that had some ringing but nothing that he really focused on. Course the pain in his head was so much worse that Clint couldn't fully analyze the actual amount of pain from his ears. Leaning back, Clint found himself almost falling sideways onto the floor. There was nothing for him to really land on if he did fall, so he needed to do something. Moaning, he raised an arm to his forehead and slowly flopped onto the carpeted floor, making sure to not aggravate his stomach and somehow pushing himself away from the wall.

"Are you certain? I'm reading a raised temperature of 100.2 and rising. Along with the mess in the bathroom," JARVIS intoned. Clint groaned as his stomach heaved at the mention of his earlier sickness. _‘God, please stop talking.’_ Clint mentally begged. "Would it not be best to have Dr. Banner come check on you?"

"I can take care of myself," Clint declared as he cracked one blurry eye open to glare at the ceiling. When he had closed them, he couldn't remember. He just knew that he had to open one to glare at the AI that Tony built. Not that it mattered, JARVIS couldn't actually see the glare coming from the fevered body of the archer. But it made Clint feel slightly better.

"Shall I record what is happening for future reference?" JARVIS questioned after a minute of pure silence. Sighing deeply, Clint wondered how he should answer. He wanted to say no and leave his misery private but god forbid this wasn't a normal easy sickness like the flu. Bruce could use the footage for a baseline or something. Son of a bitch...

"Sure," Clint mumbled just as the Avenger's Alarm rang through his room. His pounding head didn't take the noise too kindly and ached even harder as Clint tried curling into a ball to protect his head and ears. "Shut it off!"

"Agent Barton, Captain Rodgers is ordering everyone to meet at the hanger. Shall I tell him you can't make it?" JARVIS retorted after he turned off the alarm. Clint made an indistinguishable sound but rolling over onto his back once more. "I'm sorry Agent Barton but I did not hear your answer."

"I'm getting ready!" Clint snapped before slowly and seemingly painfully getting off the floor. As he stood, a wave of dizziness made him pause. Groaning once again, Clint waited for it to pass before moving toward his rather small and mostly empty closet. Grabbing for his uniform, he pulled it off the hanger and dropped it onto his bed. As he started pulling off his nightshirt (the T-shirt he had been wearing the day before), Clint realized it was soaked with sweat. _‘Shit.’_

"Shall I send up a maid to clean your room while you are away?" JARVIS called as Clint stripped down before going in search of new boxers. The archer looked solemnly back to the bathroom as he found a pair in the nightstand by his bed. Frowning, he noted that he didn't want to deal with it now, nor would he want to deal with it when it dried and stunk up his whole room. It might make matters worse when he returned from the mission.

"Yeah, sure," he answered as he grabbed for his black pants. As he buttoned them up, he felt his stomach turn again. They felt almost too tight. Clint groaned. His kevlar top was going to be even tighter and he was going to have to strap it down even further to hold the weight of his weapons. It was about now that Clint wished he had agreed to the R&D departments' wish to fix his uniform. "This is gonna suck."

"Captain Rogers is asking for you," JARVIS mentioned as Clint slipped his top on. Moaning at the tight feel, he looked down at the straps and figured they could wait till he was on the jet. Turning back to his closet, he grabbed for his weapons bag.

"Tell him I'm on the way," Clint said as he proceeded to leave his room and head toward the hanger. He got there in record time, not remembering most of the trek, and climbed aboard to see that he was the last one on. Sadly the pain in his ears were worse now and so when Tony spoke, Clint almost couldn't hear him.

"What took so long? Fixing your lovely hair, Merida?" Tony remarked, nearly completely in the Iron Man suit. In his left hand was the helmet. Clint gave a half-hearted shrug before sitting down in the one open seat next to Natasha. She gave him a confused glance, basically asking if he was fine. All he did was nod his head toward Tony and roll his eyes. Natasha took that as a sign that he was good to go. With a soft smile on his face, Clint leaned back and just about missed her nod an okay to Steve before the loading doors closed and the jet got ready to launch. It was times like this that he was glad Natasha understood him without words. His throat was hurting so much that he felt like he might not be able to speak normally.

"Ok. We have a group of AIM scientists trying to steal some weapons from the US military. Now, normally we wouldn't be called in but-" Steve began explaining till Tony cut him off. Clint groaned softly when the jet's take-off and climb made his ears throb and only a second later realized he shouldn't have because his throat protested the noise. Behind him, Bruce frowned and looked carefully at the archer.

"My friend Rhodey mentioned that some of the tech is old Stark Industries items. So, I offered our help," Tony declared like all the rest of them really cared. Clint frowned, trying to figure out what the group was talking about, as Natasha sat up straighter in her seat. She knew about Rhodes. Even Clint knew about the only other man to have a working Iron Man like suit. It took a moment for the archer to realize that Tony mentioned Rhodes. So Clint now turned to wondering why the rest of the Avengers were even bothering to help if War Machine was there. He'd rather stay back at the tower, even if his room smelt right now.

"Doesn't he have the War Machine suit?" she inquired. Tony's proud smile faltered for a brief second before he nodded. He had forgotten that Natasha had seen Rhodes fly off in the suit especially built for him. Clint was stunned to realize that his ears could barely identify what Natasha was saying beside him. It certainly explained why he was having such a hard time knowing what was going on. So he began lip reading, praying that his head wouldn't hurt too badly. Thankfully, being a sniper had forced him to learn such a unique talent. And the few times Harold, his asshole father, had boxed his ears too hard and made him temporally lose his hearing. "And that's not good enough to stop the AIM group?"

"Most of Rhodey's systems are still part of Hammer's tech. The War Machine isn't as powerful as the Iron Man suit."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why he, and apparently now you, need the rest of our help," Natasha countered making Tony feel a bit foolish. Clint smirked as he waited to hear the billionaire's excuse here. She had a point. If War Machine was already there, then really only Iron Man was needed. No one else needed to go. Especially not Bruce, who was sitting next to Steve with a curious expression as well.

"We are a team. Director Fury and our new handler, Agent Sitwell, thought it best if we all accompanied Stark in fighting AIM. I agreed," Steve responded for Tony. Natasha nodded her consent to that reason. She could see where Fury got off saying that the Avengers needed to look more like a cohesive group then the individuals they all used to be. "We have to look like we won't deal with problems alone. As a group, we can be a powerful force. Alone, we could seem... Spoiled."

"Um, that only fits for Tony," Clint commented, sounding normal (surprise), as he leaned forward, looking down a bit to cover his grimace of pain. The flight wasn't doing good on his current state. He could almost feel the need to throw up again. Concentrating on everyone was making the need more pronounced. Especially his headache and now that he had spoken, his throat felt like acid or lava was being poured down it. Bruce leaned forward now as well, his attention riveted on Clint's palling appearance. The doctor could only hope that the archer was smart enough not to go on a mission sick. "None of the rest of us fight for our own goals."

"Hey!" Tony cried out in mock insult. Steve, Natasha and Bruce smirked. It was true, so none of them could argue against it.

"Avengers, we'll be at the battle in two minutes," the pilot called back in their moment of silence. Clint sighed as he began working at clipping his straps down on his suit. As he did so, Natasha grabbed his quiver out of his bag and prepped it for him. God bless having worked with her long enough for her to know what to do. When he was ready to put it on, he gave her a small smile of thanks. She said nothing but when he added the extra weight to his back, she noted that he grimaced and almost grabbed his stomach.

"Are you okay?" she questioned. Clint gave her a cryptic smile before nodding and finished getting ready. Natasha frowned deeply but decided to trust that Clint knew his limits. Sadly she'd be mistaken. Coulson was normally the one that called Clint off missions based on tiny hints like Clint just gave. It was like the man had been psychic or something.

"Everyone ready?" Steve asked as he hefted his shield up in preparation to drop into a heated battle. Bruce grimaced but nodded, he was already calling up a stronger anger to draw out the other guy in mid drop. Tony placed his remaining part of his suit on over his head and the others watched as the mechanics whirred to life and closed around the man's head. As Steve glanced over to Natasha and Clint, the archer felt a slight wave of dizziness wash over him. Amazingly he was able to clear it and nod his head to the Captain before anyone noticed he wasn't feeling 100%. Steve nodded back and headed toward the rear of the Quinjet. Tony was right behind him, ready to fly the second the doors opened. Bruce and Natasha stood side by side, watching the others, also waiting to go. But Clint, still hadn't moved in a good attempt to get ready. He was way too dizzy and sadly, his stomach was beginning to rebel again. Thankfully the doors opened and the others jumped out just as Clint let loose.

"Shit," he cursed when it was over. Not only had it made his throat worse, but his head was throbbing and his ears felt like they were about to explode. A second later, someone else cursed. The archer looked up, surprised. Staring at him was the pilot. Groaning, Clint stood and moved to follow the rest of the team.

"You sure you want to go fight?" the pilot asked, loudly enough that Clint could basically understand what he said. Clint scoffed and looked back at the now concerned man.

"Why not?" he responded before jumping off the plane, the pilot's protest getting lost in the wind. In mid drop, the archer surveyed the scene. Tony and Rhodes, in the War Machine suit, were on opposite ends of the battle. Steve was alone in the middle, tossing his shield only seconds after getting it back. Natasha was dashing around, helping groups of American soldiers in need. It surprisingly took a while to find the big green Hulk, but when Clint did, he was pleased to see the Hulk attacking only those in yellow outfits.

Finally focusing on where he was going to land, Clint prepared for the sudden stop. Sadly, no matter how much he prepared, he couldn't have expected his knees giving out on him and so he pretty much face-planted onto the ground. And to make matters worse, some AIM guys noticed and Tony noticed. While the AIM guys laughed at Clint as he got to his feet, Tony's voice came through his comm.

"What's wrong Katniss? Did someone push you?" Tony mocked and for half a beat, Clint was glad his ears seemed to clear enough to hear it fine. Clint growled as he lifted his bow and nocked enough arrows to hit all the guys around him. Thankfully the enemy was still too busy laughing at him to notice. But, they did stop at the blossoming pain in their chests before they dropped. Grinning, Clint spotted the hanger bay near-by. Perfect view of the battlefield.

"Can I get a lift?" Clint questioned to Tony but was surprised when War Machine flew over and hovered just in front of him. Clint got closer as Rhodes lifted his helmet to talk.

"Where to?" Rhodes asked as he held his hand out to Clint. As the archer grasped it, Rhodes pulled him close.

"The hanger," Clint muttered just as War Machine lifted into the air. Praying that the motion wouldn't bother his stomach, Clint was shocked to notice that Rhodes seemed more in tune with his passenger then Tony. Where Tony would just rocket off so fast that you might lose your breath, Rhodes took it nice and easy.

The landing was just as smooth as the take-off and Rhodes didn't simply drop the archer like Tony might have done. Nope, instead Rhodes completely landed before releasing Clint's body from his hold and stepped back, checking to make sure his passenger was steady. Clint didn't even stumble, and so with a nod, Rhodes took back off into the fray and Clint took a moment to steady his still upset stomach.

"Ah, Rhodey, Barton can handle more then that!" Tony joked on his way flying past. Clint rolled his eyes before setting himself up with a perfect view of the battle and started to load an arrow.

"Apparently, you've never been passenger to your rides. The outside pressure of take off can be rather harsh," Rhodes automatically reported. Clint and Tony snorted as the archer released an arrow that struck an AIM officer going towards a different hanger near-by. It was at this time that Clint began to realize that focusing on the battle helped him forget that he was ill.

"Colonel Rhodes, which building are they mainly going for?" Steve called over the comms as Clint began to get into a steady rhythm of shooting his arrows at people. It didn't take long after settling into his perch for Clint to realize that everyone was working on getting in or protecting every other hanger.

"Actually..." Rhodes began but paused for a moment. Clint quickly glanced toward the grayish silver suit to see the man attacking a small enforcement of AIM guys heading into a small hanger diagonal to Clint's current position. Once Rhodes was done, he spoke again. "The hanger they want is the one where Hawkeye is positioned but, we want to leave it alone because they seem more interested in the others."

"Agreed. Barton, you will be the main protection on that hanger," Steve announced. Clint hummed into his comm as he shot two guys trying to sneak up on Steve's back. As the Captain turned around, he spotted the falling bodies and nodded toward Clint. The archer smiled just before his stomach revolted and Clint had to spin away from the edge to try and throw up whatever new item had appeared. Thankfully, at some point he had been smart enough to flip off his half of the comm so no one overheard him.

It took another two minutes to finish dry heaving and calming his system enough to turn back to the fight. As he began shooting again, Clint suddenly noticed that his head was starting to spin and the ringing in his ears was worse. Shaking it in an effort to clear the dizziness, Clint tried to focus on his targets. He got off three more shots before his vision started to gray out. Backing away from the edge, Clint fell onto his butt and then back before promptly passing out.


	2. Rooftop to Hospital

"-int? -rton?" a worried voice called out into the darkness of Clint's hazily sick mind. Slowly, Clint realized he knew that voice. It wasn't annoying, so not Tony. Not female, big hint that it wasn't Natasha. Didn't sound mad, so not Fury. Hell, also wasn't all that concerned. Steve would have been worrying his fucking mind out. Thor was still off world. So, that simple left...

"Bruce?" Clint groaned, his sore throat making his voice sounding weaker then it really was. Slowly he began to open his eyes and actually look around. Yup, it was Bruce. Leaning over the archer's face, Bruce seemed slightly worried but also not worried. It was a strange face. Glancing past the doc, Clint noticed he was still on the hanger that he had positioned himself on.

"Nice to see you awake," Bruce commented as Clint took in more of his surroundings. Realizing that he couldn't see much while laying on his back, Clint tried to sit up. Only his efforts were stopped by Bruce lightly pressing his hand against Clint's chest. "I need to know how you feel before I let you sit up."

"Fine," Clint lied as his head spun crazily. His eyes blinked in rapid succession, indicating to Bruce that everything was far from fine. The doc rolled his eyes and placed his other hand against Clint's forehead. A moment later, he drew back, his face looking more concerned then before.

"Clint, you have a fever. Are you ill?" Bruce questioned. Clint groaned as his head started pounding worse then before, making his headache also worsen and then weakness seeped into his muscles. He really wanted to lie to the other Avenger but his body was quickly betraying him. "Clint?"

"Good," Clint muttered so softly that Bruce almost missed it. Frowning, Bruce centered a gaze that told Clint that he better not be trying to bullshit the doc. But this was Clint. He was nothing but a bullshitter. "Better than this morning."

"And how did you feel this morning? Fever? Stomach pains? Nausea?" Bruce asked. Clint's gaze drifted over toward his dried bile. It took the doctor a few seconds before his eyes looked over at the same thing. When Clint’s line of sight drew back to Bruce, he noticed Bruce was getting upset and for some reason his mind supplied that the doctor was dressed. How long had he been out? "Did you also throw up this morning?"

"Woke up that way," Clint grumbled, too out of it to come up with anything else to say and partly relieved to have someone watching over him, even if aggravating. He could take care of himself. Bruce's frown deepened, alerting Clint to the fact that his one bit of honesty was going to cost him. As he watched Bruce looking him over, Clint began to feel even worse. His headache intensified, his weakness made him want to face-plant into the ground and sleep, and his stomach was working very hard on finding something to vomit. Even his ears were screaming in protest. The worst though was his throat but Clint just prayed that that was from the constant vomiting. Overall, he was 100 times worse then this morning.

"You went on a mission, sick?" Bruce exclaimed softly. Clint gave a sheepish shrug just as his stomach decided it had yet again filled with too much bile. Turning his head to the side, the archer had just enough time to push Bruce back before the bile flew from his mouth. "Oh, Clint. Jesus."

"Bruce? How is Barton?" Steve's voice cut through the sounds of retching. Bruce frowned and looked up, the Captain had reached the same rooftop and was about to turn the corner to check on them. The doctor knew he had to stop him. If not for Steve's comfort, then for Clint's pride. Bruce could only assume that the archer was like him, embarrassed to be sick.

"If you have a queazy stomach, stop right there," Bruce ordered, focusing again on Clint. Steve froze and in the silence of confusion, heard Clint vomiting. The Captain paled. It's been a long time since he heard someone loosing their stomach. But even then, it brought back so many memories of when he had to see it or even did it himself. That was when Steve's own stomach turned. Thankfully, since turning super soldier, Steve had never thrown up. Hell, during the war it was just him, Bucky and Morita who could deal with the others when sick. And there was always one patient that was more difficult to deal with than the others. So, with that in mind, Steve rounded the bend just as Clint coughed and turned back to Bruce.

"What happened?" Steve asked as he noted Clint's red flushed face and neck followed by Bruce's worried gaze on the archer. Bruce slowly turned away from the archer to look at the leader of the Avengers and pretty much wished that he wasn't in this situation. If he was this upset with Clint going into a battle sick, Bruce could only imagine how pissed off Steve would get.

"Clint," Bruce began to explain but Clint began talking over him.

"I was feeling off and got distracted," Clint lied. Steve frowned, knowing that that wasn't the truth. He could hear it in Clint's voice. It sounded like even the effort of speaking was painful and tiring. He couldn’t help but sigh. Of course the idiot would do this. But seeing as Clint didn't seem to be wanting to give in and admit what was going on, Steve dropped it. He just figured he could talk to Bruce later, when Clint wasn't around, and get the much needed details. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to let you two know that our ride is here," Steve told the two, crossing his arms over his chest. Bruce nodded and turned to watch as Clint struggled to get to his feet. Steve frowned, now more certain that something was wrong but had no idea what to do about it. It took Clint falling onto his butt three times before Bruce stood and easily held a hand out to the archer and lifted him to his feet. Clint, embarrassed, thanked him. "We ready?"

"Yeah," Clint responded before stumbling toward the doorway that Steve had passed through only minutes before. Bruce walked towards Steve's side and then paused. Steve waited until Clint had vanished around the corner to speak. Too bad Clint hadn't actually gone through the doorway and so he heard the conversation.

"What really happened?" Steve questioned. Bruce hesitated for a moment. He wanted to make sure that Clint was really gone before speaking. Sadly Clint had heard the Captain and decided to wait until he heard them moving toward him. His ears pounded with every word, making it much easier to actually tell what the two were saying.

"Clint mentioned something like waking up sick," Bruce admitted. Steve turned to face the doctor in surprise. He didn't want to believe that Clint would have been stupid enough to join a mission while sick. Well, he knew Clint had gone out only minutes after being free from Loki’s control and Steve knew the archer could care for himself. But, this seemed much worse than Steve had ever seen. "He actually threw up a few times before, that I know of, and then the one you walked in on."

"Why would he come on a mission, ill?" Steve muttered, not fully expecting an answer even if he knew the truth. Clint was fucking stubborn. But Bruce shrugged. The doc had no idea. Steve shook his head. How had anyone not have noticed what the archer did? How did anyone allow Clint to do this for as long as he had? "What would make him think it was okay?"

"Maybe he was trying to prove something," Bruce suggested. Clint stiffened. He had been. Secretly, Clint had tried to prove something. He had been trying to prove that he could handle it. Shaking the thoughts from his head, Clint sighed.

"Prove what?" Steve asked, surprised. That was a new thought. Bruce frowned and looked to the Captain.

"Think about it. Tony has the suit. I have the other guy. Thor is a god. You have the super solider serum. And even Natasha admitted to me that she had been slightly enhanced by the Red Room. Clint is completely human, from what I know," Bruce explained as though it should be obvious. Steve groaned. He never thought of it that way. Jesus, he was a bit dense. "Look, I'm not saying that that's true. It's just something that I've been thinking. And trust me, if I've been thinking about it, someone else is as well. Whether that is Clint or not, I don't know."

"I can't... No... He can't think that," Steve stuttered out, frowning as he thought more about the strong man that he always saw the archer as. Bruce shrugged again before turning to leave the roof. Clint vanished through the door and down the stairs before Bruce could even round the corner. Mentally he was yelling at himself for being so stupid. How could it be so obvious that Clint was uncertain in his place on the team? Yeah, it had been nearly a year since the Manhattan incident and no one mentioned that he wasn't up to par. But it was something that still worried Clint.

Halfway down the stairs, Clint felt too dizzy to move on. He stopped and leaned against the wall. His head was pounding, his throat was dry and so sore that he almost couldn't remember it feeling fine, and his stomach was claiming that it was close to being full once again. At least his ears were calming, but any noise made them throb. Clint groaned. This sickness could get him kicked off the team. Letting his head drop against the wall, Clint felt tears begin to form in his eyes.

"I don't want to leave," Clint whined to himself. Thankfully no one was around to hear. But after a few seconds, Clint could hear Bruce and Steve lumbering down the stairs. Sighing, he went to push off the wall and continue down the stairs, but Bruce noticed him.

"Clint," the doctor called just before the archer's dizziness returned and made him loose his balance. Clint only had a second to look up toward Bruce and Steve before falling down the stairs.

"CLINT!"

\----------

Clint came too very slowly. His head was hurting worse then ever before. For once, his stomach seemed settled but as his throat felt like it was on fire, Clint realized that maybe it wasn't the vomiting. His ears were a dull ache, which was nice. A slight pain in his right shoulder was new. And even a slight pain in his left leg. Groaning, Clint worked on opening his eyes. Worse mistake he'd make. The lights in the room were far too bright and the sharp pain in his eyes made him close them quickly and turned his stomach around.

"Shit," Clint whispered just before getting to a sitting position and twisting enough to vomit off his current bed. He was shocked to not hear it splatter about the floor. It sounded more like he was throwing up into some sort of container. Cracking his eyes open once again, Clint noticed someone was holding a trash can underneath him. But the better news, someone else had turned down the lights. It took about a minute for Clint to finish emptying his stomach of bile, medication, and other various things.

"You good?" Bruce's voice called into the archer's haze. For a moment, Clint did nothing but think about what the doc was asking. Then he finally nodded slowly and sat back. The sounds of flushing and water running assaulted the archer's now pained ears only a few seconds later. Clint groaned and went to roll onto his right side but stopped at the searing pain from his shoulder. "Jeez! Clint, don't roll around!"

"What happened?" Clint moaned as he laid flat on his back thanks to Bruce's prodding. Silvery grey eyes focused on the doc as Bruce looked toward someone else in the room. Sighing, the doc answered.

"You fell down the stairs after our mission. You dislocated your right shoulder, sprained the knee in your left leg, gave yourself a concussion and the sickness you had before... Well, we're still working on exactly what's wrong," Bruce answered. Clint frowned. The concussion explained the extreme pain in his head that had increased like a hundred fold since the mission. He's had a dislocated shoulder before so that was no big deal. A sprained knee was new. But what worried him more was that Bruce had no answer for this random sickness.

"Did you get the info from JARVIS?" Clint asked so softly that Bruce almost missed it. Thankfully the other person in the room heard.

"Yeah, JARVIS sent it when I informed Pepper that we were going to the Helicarrier," Tony's voice drifted toward Clint from the opposite side of the room as Bruce. Clint slowly looked over and as he turned, the archer noticed Natasha and Steve at the foot of his bed and Rhodes standing slightly behind them. Tony was standing right beside the door but moved closer to the bed when Clint noticed him. "He said that you woke up sick and gave us not only the stats from this morning but the past week."

"I've been feeling off for only the past two days," Clint mentioned, not even thinking about how that sounded. Tony and Bruce traded glances at his terminology. Rhodes shifted toward the door, looking like he was going to leave. Steve closed his eyes, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling before turning to Natasha. She must have some answers as to why Clint was like this. He couldn’t believe that Clint’s desire to hold back an illness while on a mission was so deeply ingrained in him. Natasha, having caught the three Avengers trading looks, nodded her head.

"Clint once told me that he can tell when he's going to get sick. He gets this feeling like something about his body is off, or wrong. And pretty soon after he gets a cold, the flu, or anything else. It's normal for him," Natasha explained. Clint nodded but regretted it as his concussed head protested and made his stomach revolt. Thankfully there was nothing to throw up so he just dry heaved over his lap.

"Oh my god! Clint!" Pepper's voice suddenly burst through the room as she entered, nearly frazzling a nurse who was coming past to check on other patients. Her high pitched voice made it feel like Clint's ears were about to burst, but he held in the pained groan. Clint turned to see her as the red head rushed past Bruce's side to come and grab onto the archer's left hand. "What happened?"

"Basically, Katniss decided it would be cool to go help Rhodey while sick and then fell down some stairs," Tony bluntly stated. Pepper's eyes widened in shock at the news before turning a glare down on Clint. Her hand reached out and lightly slapped Clint across his left shoulder.

"Ow!" Clint softly called, even though he felt no pain. It was just typical human reaction to a shocking event that could cause pain.

"You moron. Why would you go on a mission sick?" Pepper whined. Clint gave her a soft smile.

"Hey, I've done it before," he retorted. Natasha snorted.

"Yeah, getting malaria while on a month long mission in Africa doesn't count," she responded. Clint shrugged as Natasha rolled her eyes. He was used to this.

"How did you get malaria?" Steve questioned, trying to ignore the fact that Clint had done this numerous times before. There was no way Clint was this stupid to have done it during his time with S.H.I.E.L.D as well.

"A damned mosquito bit me on the first day there... About ten days later, I started getting sick. Phi... Coulson was the one who figured it out. He wanted me to leave almost right away but I swore I could complete the mission. Six days later, I found out what I needed to find out but was then hospitalized. I never did find out who finished my mission," Clint answered as though it was no big deal that he tended to still work while feeling unwell.

"Then lets not even get into the Manhattan attack," Natasha snorted once again as she turned her back on Clint and walked toward the in suite bathroom. Tony raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Steve put his hands on his hips and glared down at Clint. He had known back then that it was likely a bad idea for Clint to go fight, but Steve also knew the archer needed to. Bruce shook his head in disbelief. Pepper frowned and Rhodes stepped forward.

"What happened with that?" Rhodes asked, curious as he wasn't there to see the after shawarma event in which Clint dropped unconscious.

"Uh. Malnourished, sleep deprived, dehydrated... Crap, there was something else," Clint groaned as he tried to remember everything the doctors had yelled at him about the day after. His head protested thinking and his throat was really hating that he was still speaking. At least his ears were hurting slightly but didn't effect his ability.

"Well, you had three broken ribs. A sprained wrist and a huge bruise on your back. But that was from after the battle. Before you also had a minor case of the flu along with the other things you mentioned," Bruce explained, having had helped the S.H.I.E.L.D doctors that day.

"Clint, you really should take care of yourself," Pepper moaned as she looked down at the archer with a saddened face. Clint shrugged. He didn't see any problem with what he was doing. Only he really knew his limitations, or so he had thought.

"Everything is fine. I can handle myself," Clint said as he laid back on the bed. This time it was Bruce who snorted in response to the archer's statement. Clint glanced over at the doc.

"Yeah, that's why I found you unconscious on the roof. Especially when you were silent for half the battle. And our pilot mentioned you not only vomited before exiting the plane but, you vomited twice on the roof," Bruce snapped. Clint winced when everyone leveled a glare on him. "That's really handling it?"

"Uh. Yes?" Clint questioned. Bruce threw his hands into the air in frustration before walking away from the bed but not leaving the room. Steve shook his head in disgrace. Natasha, who had just come out of the restroom, frowned deeply. Pepper sighed and turned to find a seat somewhere in the room. Rhodes rolled his eyes and then Tony laughed.

"Are you kidding me? Even I'm not that self destructive," the billionaire taunted. Clint gazed at Tony as if he had grown two extra heads. That wasn’t a good thing to hear. Especially coming from the man who nearly died from his Arc Reactor a few years prior.

"Yeah, that's why we have the story of you destroying your Malibu home, peeing in your Iron Man suit and attacking Rhodes," Clint retorted, trying to get the attention off of him. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Not the same thing. I knew I was dying. To be honest, I didn't really care," Tony mentioned. This time, Tony got the glares from the whole group. "Hey, I figured no one would care if I died. I set Pepper up as CEO, Rhodey had his War Machine suit, Stark Industries was set. Everything was ready for me to just... Well, go."

"You are not helping," Steve nearly growled at Tony. The genius shrugged and rolled his eyes. He turned away and sat in a seat next to Pepper. A second later there was a loud slap and then Tony was whining about the red hand print appearing on his right cheek.

"Look, Clint. We really should let you rest. Your shoulder, knee and head should be fine in a few days with bed rest. The doctors here will keep working on your fever and sickness," Bruce mentioned. Clint shifted uncomfortably. But he didn't have to say anything. Steve crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly, ready to argue with whatever Clint was going to say.

"Actually, I already got the doc's okay to bring him back to the Tower. They said that JARVIS and you could easily help send the data over that they'd need and he'd rest there better then here," Natasha explained. Clint smiled. Both assassins hated staying in any type of medical area for long. Normally Coulson had it set up that if it was okay, once they had woken up, they'd be transferred to their rooms on the carrier. Steve sighed. That would hopefully be what Clint did. Actually rest, rather than being an idiot and trying to train or fight again.

Bruce didn't seem to like this idea but when he noticed Clint relax, he let it go. Steve gave the two a soft smile before nodding and turning to leave. Rhodes understood that that meant he should go as well and so he slipped out the door without a word. Pepper was next to stand and prepare to leave, but she wanted to bring Tony with her and right now, the billionaire finally realized that if Clint went to the Tower, there would be a sick man in his home.

"Uh, no. If he's sick, I don't want him in my house," Tony objected. Pepper slapped his arm in frustration before looking at Clint's slowly paling face.

"Don't worry Clint. You can come back to the Tower," she told him. Tony began whining again about how Clint will spread germs and what if he was dangerous and other such things. Pepper just ignored it before grabbing the genius's ear and dragging him out of the room. Clint snorted at Tony as he heard the last complaint that if the billionaire got sick then it was Pepper's fault.

"Do you want my help?" Bruce asked when it was finally just him, Natasha and Clint left in the room. Natasha edged toward the door in a show that she really didn't want to help Clint. She'd rather wait outside. Sighing, Clint nodded. Natasha gave him a soft smile and vanished outside the door. "Okay, I'll go get the clothes. Natasha left them somewhere."

"Probably in the bathroom or some drawer," Clint retorted as Bruce wandered over toward the bathroom. When the archer noticed the doctor's smile, he could only assume that Natasha had left the clothes there. Bruce went into the bathroom and brought them back out. Clint quickly went about unhooking the various machines that S.H.I.E.L.D medical had hooked him up to.

"Whoa there," Bruce called when he turned back around to see Clint was now sitting up and working on sliding off the bed. The doc rushed to his side and grasped his left arm to support his left knee as Clint landed lightly on the floor. Clint hissed when Bruce, nor he, was fast enough to keep the knee from bending. "You should have waited a second."

"Faster out, the better I'll feel," Clint groaned as the two walked over towards the pile of clothes. Once he was stable on his right leg, Bruce went about untying the hospital gown while Clint unfolded the shirt. The two quickly exchanged places and Clint realized suddenly that he was happy that medical had at least been decent enough to leave his boxers on. Now the hard part. Clint stared at the pair of pants in bewilderment. "How we gonna do this?"

Bruce's response was to grab a chair and slid it over. Clint winced slightly at the sound on metal on linoleum but smiled lightly when he understood what the doc was doing. Without waiting for Bruce to say anything, Clint slowly relaxed down into the chair. Bruce nodded and grabbed the pants. Unfolding them, he opened the top and patiently waited for Clint to lift his legs. Clint did his right leg rather easily but when it came to his left, the knee protested holding the lower part and he hissed in pain.

"Sorry," Bruce muttered before leaning down and holding Clint's leg as he slid the pants up as far as he could. Once it got too high, Bruce handed the pant top over to Clint and rolled the bottom so his feet were free. Then the doc helped the archer stand and Clint pulled the pants up the rest of the way. Once done, Clint smiled like they had gone through a huge ordeal. Bruce laughed. "I'll go get a wheelchair. You sit back down."

"Sure thing, doc," Clint said as he gently sat back down and tried to watch Bruce leave. As the doc left, Steve, Tony, Natasha, and Pepper reentered the room. Natasha must have said something even if Steve was glaring at him like he better not dare to do anything more stupid than he already had been. "Hey."

"Almost ready to go?" Steve asked. Clint smiled and then felt it. It had been long enough for his stomach to refill. Apparently he groaned or made some sort of noise that alerted Pepper, of all people, that he was about to vomit. She grabbed the nearest vessel (the same trash bin from before) and held it into his lap seconds before the bile came up.

"Ah! I don't want to get sick," Tony cried before nearly running out of the room. Natasha and Steve both shook their heads with a smirk on their faces. A few seconds later, everyone heard Bruce speak over Clint's sounds.

"You do realize you been already infected by being in the plane where he vomited, you were here when he first woke up and vomited, and if it was contagious, then the germs are already all around the Tower from the two days that Clint felt strange," Bruce was telling the genius. A moment later, Bruce and Tony entered with a wheelchair. "Ready to... Oh."

"Give it a minute. He's mostly dry heaving," Natasha noted when Bruce spotted Clint throwing up. As Natasha said, almost a minute later, Clint stopped and leaned back into the chair. Pepper waited a second before taking the bin away to go clean it. "You good now?"

"Seems empty," Clint joked. No one seemed to enjoy the joke. Rolling his eyes, Clint worked on getting himself up to exchange the chair for the wheelchair. Once he stood, someone removed the chair and replaced it with the wheelchair so that he wouldn't have to move. Slowly, he returned to sitting with a deep frown on his face. He never liked being treated like broken glass. Then Bruce came around front and lifted one of the feet and then raised his left leg into it.

"You okay?" Bruce asked, concerned for Clint's comfort. Clint nodded and then they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius is doing well. School and daycare are really exciting for him and he's made a lot of friends. In a few weeks time, I'll learn if he keeps going to school or if it will just become Daycare. Either way, life won't seriously change. I think. Having an interesting time keeping the house clean today. He's home all day on Fridays and so the house normally ends up a mess. We got into a fight before naptime as he refused to clean so I grabbed a trash bag and started collecting stuff. He got upset and I just told him to clean or I'd throw it away and what I didn't throw away, our dog, Appa would eat. Kinda worked. But, right after nap. Back to making a huge mess.
> 
> Baby Jason hasn't been around me that much this week. Mostly upstairs with his parents or out. The few times that he has been around, he's been happy as all heck. Laughing and smiling. Outside of once a day crying over getting a bottle. Last night hubby and I got to watch Baby Jason for a bit. There were a few times I thought hubby would kill the kid with laughter but everything went fine. Till like the last five to ten minutes of waiting for his parents to return. Then, the little guy got mad cause we didn't feed him. Ah well. Least he was happy for most of it.


	3. Tower

It took about forty five minutes for the group to get from Medical up to the launch bay, load onto a waiting Quinjet, and then fly off towards Stark Tower. Most of that was due to Clint. During that entire time, Clint had a vomiting spell twice more and then passed out during the actual take off. At first everyone was concerned but calmed when Bruce mentioned that the concussion more than likely made him pass out and he needed the rest to heal. So when Clint recovered halfway there and vomited, everyone partly wished he was still unconscious. After landing on Stark Tower, everyone slowly disembarked and headed to the elevator.

"Clint, where would you like to stay?" Pepper suddenly inquired when the doors closed. Clint looked at her in surprise.

"What?" he called. Pepper looked down at him with a soft smile. Her hand was tightly gripping and twisting one of Tony's fingers so he couldn't protest. In the mirrored walls of the elevator, Steve and Natasha enjoyed watching the billionaire squirm. Bruce seemed a bit concerned, his attention switching between Clint and Tony.

"Well, you could stay in your room if you want. But I figured that you'd like to take the couch in the living room so that you'll still be out with everyone. That couch does change into a fold out bed. I think I even made sure it was a memory foam mattress," Pepper pointed out. Clint raised an eyebrow at her. "I only ask cause I know that I wouldn't want to be locked away in my room while I heal."

"Oh," Clint responded, thinking about it now. He had been planning on getting locked in his room and only having Bruce and Natasha visiting. But if everyone would be okay with him in the living room.

"I think that sounds wonderful," Natasha answered for the archer. Clint slowly nodded his own consent and everyone watched as Tony's face scrunched into something akin to pain. He let out a low whine but Pepper still didn't release him. About a floor away from the living room, Bruce began to feel bad for Tony. He was starting to kneel on the floor.

"I think you might be about to break his finger," Bruce mentioned. Pepper looked down with a face that seemed like she just realized she was twisting her boyfriend's hand.

"Oh," she called before releasing the hand. Tony's gasp as the pain vanished made most of the group laugh lightly.

"Jesus woman! Are you trying to kill me?" he cried as he began to cradle his hand.

"That wouldn't kill you," Bruce countered and Tony's face stated his disagreement. The elevator then took that moment to open and everyone unloaded. A half hour later, Clint was sprawled across the fold out couch. He had a few pillows set up to help him sit up with far too many blankets bunched all around him so he seemed like he was buried in a fort or something like a taco shell. Beside the couch was a large bucket that everyone (except Tony) promised to empty when they noticed anything in it. On the stand next to the couch's armrest was a large warm glass of ginger ale. Playing on the TV was an anime show called _Is This a Zombie?_ No one wanted another _Dog Cops_ marathon even if Clint had suckered mostly all of them into watching with him as human and as a hawk (and a few, like Steve and Bruce, actually enjoying it).

"You gonna need anything else?" Natasha whispered before dropping down onto the mattress beside Clint. The archer glanced over at her before slowly shaking his head no. His pain medication from S.H.I.E.L.D medical was still working, not as well as he hoped, but it's never good to mix medications with him. He was sensitive enough as it was. Natasha smiled and began to curl herself up against him. Steve had already claimed the recliner nearby, but he had his sketchbook so he wasn't watching the show. Tony vanished once Pepper began unmaking the fold out couch. Bruce mentioned going to check on some of the data that JARVIS compiled and Pepper headed off toward the kitchen to see if she could come up with a good idea for dinner.

No less then ten minutes later, Natasha shifted to look up at Clint. The archer was fast asleep. Smiling, she reached across his stomach to grab the remote but she must have put too much weight down on him because next thing Natasha knew, she was being tossed across the bed as Clint groped for bucket beside the mattress. He just about made it.

"He okay?" Steve softly called when he looked up from his sketch. Natasha frowned and watched Clint for a moment before deciding that he was good. She nodded to Steve and he sighed before going back to his work. Seconds later, Clint dropped the bucket back down and laid back with a loud moan.

"Don't touch the stomach," Clint whined as he spotted Natasha getting up to go clean the bucket. She smiled softly.

"Figured," she told him.

"What were you doing anyways?" he moaned.

"Was trying to get the remote to change the channel. This show is really weird," Natasha retorted. Clint frowned and looked at the show.

_"Why do you keep calling him maggot?"_

_"Maybe cause it reminds me of fag-"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

"Ah," Clint answered after hearing that little scene.

"Sides, I thought you were asleep," Natasha mentioned before leaving the room. Clint settled back down and began flipping through the channels again to find something else to watch. Sadly there wasn't much good on. So Clint finally settled on _Dog Cops._ Natasha came back then and placed the bucket back beside Clint. As she headed to the other side of the bed, she spotted the new show and grimaced. " _Dog Cops_ really?"

"Nothing else on," Clint said as he relaxed deeper into the bed even as Steve looked up and then sighed deeply. Apparently they couldn’t escape a marathon of that show. Natasha nodded, pretty much used to Clint’s stubbornness about the show, and slowly put herself in a similar position from before. This time she was more conscious of where Clint's stomach was compared to her body. Clint's soft smile to her showed that he really appreciated it. Twenty minutes later, he was back asleep and Natasha had stolen the remote to instead watch a marathon of _NCIS._ Steve abandoned her not long before Clint passed out after Pepper came into the room briefly to stare at him.

"Dinner's almost ready," Pepper lightly told the group when she came in thirty minutes later. Natasha began to stretch and uncurl herself at the words. Pepper's eyes gazed down on the still sleeping Clint. "Should we wait for him?"

"Not sure he'd want to eat anything anyways. But I'll wake him," Natasha informed her before lightly placing her hand on his left shoulder. A groan escaped the archer's lips as he slowly became aware of what was going on around him. "Dinner?"

"Sure, not like I have to clean up when it comes back," Clint lightly joked. Natasha frowned and looked about. Thankfully Pepper had already walked off, so no one but her heard the joke. But, if anyone else heard, they'd likely decide the joke wasn't funny and would rather Clint stay in bed. Too bad he was already up and heading toward the kitchen, limping funnily on his bad knee. Natasha rolled her eyes before hurrying up to help her stubborn partner.

"Hey, feeling better?" Bruce questioned when Clint and Natasha entered the kitchen. Clint shrugged, unsure how to answer. Truthfully the pains in his body were vanishing but his stomach was still upset. And a new thing was that he felt like the whole room was freezing, a sure sign (for him) that he had a fever.

"You gonna throw up dinner here, cause if so, I don't want to eat with you," Tony half seriously stated. Clint smiled and gave Natasha a quick glance. She shifted their trajectory from the nearest chair at the table to the chair right next to Tony. Once Clint was seated, Natasha then sat on the archer's other side. Tony looked like he was about to die.

Now, most people would just move to a different spot and be done with it. But not Tony. No, this particular seat was _his seat._ Only _he_ sat here. It was the equal to the head of the table, even though the table was round so there was no head. But he always sat there and Pepper always sat in the seat that Clint was currently occupying. His other side normally had Steve. Which speaking of, Tony glanced over and noticed Steve had moved down a seat, making room for Pepper on Tony's new side. And seconds after Tony spotted that fact, Pepper entered with a few plates.

"Oh," she called softly at the new seating arrangement. Bruce jumped to his feet before anyone else when he saw her fully loaded hands. And he quickly offered help in putting the plates down on the table. The food looked wonderful. Steve (after many experiments and some help from Bruce, Clint and JARVIS had turned into a rather good cook) had made some type of chicken dish with spices covering the top. It was surrounded by vegetables, some also littered with the spices from the chicken. Another plate was actually a bowl of mashed potatoes that looked to be cheesy potatoes. Near by was another bowl of vegetables that wasn't covered in spices but looked buttered. And lastly was a smaller bowl of some type of soup that was placed before Clint.

"Chicken noodle? Really?" Clint happily whispered but it sounded like a whine when he noticed what it was. The rest of the Avengers smiled lightly. Only Pepper (or more likely Steve as he would have been the one to make it) would think to make the sick man a soup. But as they thought more on the way Clint sounded, they began to wonder if he was pleased. Steve frowned, looking Clint over. Natasha huffed, unsure what to say. Bruce and Pepper looked a bit cowed at his reaction. But Tony, wasn’t gonna have it.

"What, do you not like soup?" Tony mocked, but his tone did hold an edge to it. Clint immediately understood how his words could be misconstrued. He had meant no offense to who ever made it. And as he looked up to see Pepper, Clint could see the beginnings of hurt in her eyes. Okay, Pepper. Considering she wasn’t as great a cook as one might think, the soup must be some type of canned one, or Steve watched her over her shoulder.

"Oh! No, it's not that. Believe me," Clint cried softly, holding his hands out in defense. Everyone seemed to calm. His next few sentences came out softer with each word. "It's just... Well... I've never had chicken noodle soup."

"What?" Pepper and Bruce called at the same time. Clint looked away embarrassed. He really didn't want to talk about it. But when he looked to Natasha for help, he noticed even she had a confused expression on.

"Coulson made me soup when I got sick," Natasha whispered, making Clint slightly jealous. When Clint was sick (and caught), Coulson just let him rest on the couch in his office. What would Coulson’s soup have tasted like? Would it be canned or home made? A recipe from his mother? Grandmother? Clint groaned, pulling his thoughts away from the what ifs.

"Well..." he moaned. Then Pepper understood.

"You work through the illnesses that would normally have chicken noodle attached to it," she muttered in a stunned tone. Clint blushed and nodded. Around the table, everyone made faces. Steve’s was the worst. Not only was he upset that Clint tended to work through sickness like the archer just had, but Steve also seemed guilty. Like he should have known.

"I never really had parents that cared if I was sick. Hell, my dad used to beat me if I complained about anything. When I got to the circus, no one wanted to waste their own money on buying the ingredients for any type of soup if only one person needed it. So I got used to working through it. Then, I was on my own for a bit before Coul... I guess, Coulson enlisted me. By then I was used to working through colds, flus, and the like. Anything I wasn't used to working through, no one found out about until I tended to have a need to stay in medical or a hospital," Clint explained. No one said a word but Steve’s lips were pursed. If one was paying attention, they’d see that Steve had changed to seem mostly looking pissed off but not surprised. "I normally never left there until I could hold down solid foods and S.H.I.E.L.D isn't one for giving away soup. I guess Coulson never got around to making me any when I would start to feel better. Nearly every time I went from IV food to protein smoothies to solid foods like toast."

"Well, guess you should get used to soup for a little while," Pepper informed the archer with a tight smile. Everyone seemed slightly tense until she said that. Then the atmosphere relaxed and they all started to eat. Clint was the first one done. And everyone laughed when the archer drained the bowl by holding it to his lips and drinking the rest of it down.

"Did you make any more?" Clint sheepishly asked once the bowl was empty. That just made most of them laugh harder.

"Actually, I think you should take it easy," Bruce mentioned softly. Clint pouted but agreed to the doc's suggestion. Fifteen minutes later, once everyone was done with food, Clint was glad he had agreed. His stomach rejected everything during the group watching of _Killers._ Tony ran out of the room right away. While the genius hadn’t seemed phased on the jet and hearing Clint dry heave, Tony didn’t have much food in his gut. Steve paled, extremely worried now. He hadn’t ever seen Clint like this. Not that any of them outside of Natasha had seriously seen it but Steve had some knowledge about Clint to know that something had to be seriously wrong. Bruce sighed, rubbing a hand under his glasses and over the bridge of his nose. Natasha shifted away from Clint. And Pepper patiently waited for him to stop. But in between Clint's own loud noises, everyone heard a sort of echo.

"Oh, Tony," Pepper moaned before rushing off toward the nearest bathroom. There she found poor Tony sitting over the toilet, emptying his own stomach. A minute later, with Pepper rubbing his back, Tony looked up at her.

"How long is he gonna be sick?" the billionaire muttered. Pepper shrugged. "This is gonna be hell."

\----------

It took three days for Bruce and S.H.I.E.L.D Medical to agree that Clint could use his right arm and left knee. Course it was only as long as he took it easy. So he still couldn't shoot his bow (or even a gun) for another week or so. But at least now he was mobile enough to not have the bucket by the bed cause he could now rush to the bathroom instead. Course Bruce was now beginning to get worried when Clint's balance seemed to be thrown by the random illness he had. He also had gotten a deep cough that made his throat burn more then ever.

Tony avoided Clint for mostly the whole time. Then again, every now and then, Clint would awaken to some sort of robotic toy or electronic call button for any of his needs. It made Clint smile when he realized that this was Tony's way of wishing him better seeing as he couldn't be in the same room with him. Natasha tended to enjoy the call buttons more then Clint, but it was the thought that counted.

Steve typically holed himself in the recliner with his sketchpad, hardly even leaving himself to go to bed in his room. If he didn't have the sketchpad then he had a book. Normally Clint and Natasha tended to forget that he was even in the room. But a few times, Clint had vomited while Natasha was gone and Steve was the one who rubbed his back. And when Clint tried to have a conversation with the super solider, it normally was about what movie or show to turn on next. Because Clint had seen nearly all of the movies or didn't like the premise of the rest, he let Steve choose a lot. Even if Steve didn't always pay attention to the full thing. To be honest, neither did Clint. He tended to fall asleep at least halfway through.

Bruce and Pepper worked on caring for Clint. Pepper brought Clint foods like chicken noodle soup, just regular chicken soup, some toast and juices. Clint appreciated the variation and told her as much which made her smile. But no matter what the CEO brought, Clint still vomited it up. And whatever stayed long enough in his system was vacated with diarrhea. Bruce dealt with medications and getting blood samples. He and JARVIS had been concerned with Clint's rising temperature. On a good day, it was 99.8 or so. A bad day had it go up to 101.3. Clint was just thankful that S.H.I.E.L.D said they didn't want him back until he was 102.5 or if it stayed over 101 for more then 24 hours, which had yet to happen.

When Natasha was around, she was beside Clint's body nearly the whole time. She slept on the fold out couch with him, watched the movies with him, tried to help him hold in his meals, and even just cuddled against him for comfort. Clint seemed to enjoy it all. But most were surprised to see that Natasha looked to enjoy it more. No one mentioned it to her of course, but they did mention it to Clint. And in his daze, he admitted that whenever Natasha was sick, he'd cuddle with her until she got better. That information was something none of them expected to hear but accepted it after they watched Natasha continue to happily settle her body against Clint’s and held the archer as best she could without bothering him.

On the morning of the fourth day, everyone was enjoying their breakfast. Because it was a Sunday, Steve went all out. They had double chocolate chip pancakes, cinnamon swirl toast (which Clint devoured), french toast, and strawberry covered waffles. There was also loads of bacon, sausage and all type of variations of eggs. Drinks included of course coffee, milk, orange juice, apple juice and even some ginger ale for Clint. Ten minutes into the meal, Clint fled the room and they all heard the bathroom door slam shut.

"Jesus. He still hasn't stopped," Tony moaned, dropping his slice of bacon back down onto his plate. He was beginning to loose his appetite. Everyone gave him a discouraged look. Tony just frowned at them before realizing what he sounded like and felt the need to defend himself. "I'm never sick for this long."

"S.H.I.E.L.D and I are having issues diagnosing him. There are just too many contradicting symptoms. The main one being his constant vomiting. But he has complained of a sore throat that stays even if he hasn't vomited in a long time. Sometimes I've noticed his balance is thrown off. He's got that deep cough and a rash on his throat. I think at one point there was complaints of an ear ache, but I haven't heard about that in a bit," Bruce admitted. Natasha nodded with the doc's words. Clint had been complaining about the same things to her. But lately, she has noticed that he had been pushing himself into a more seated position on the couch. Steve grimaced.

"Yeah, I noticed that he can't seem to look down. And he's been rubbing the back of his neck a lot," Steve added to Natasha's own admission. Out of anyone, they had spent the longest in Clint’s company. Bruce nodded, adding that to the already large list of symptoms.

"If he didn't have the throat and ear problem, I might say he had a really bad case of the flu. And his throat issue looks a lot similar to strep," Bruce started to explain but stopped when Tony began choking on his coffee.

"Isn't strep contagious?" Pepper questioned. Bruce frowned but nodded. Steve looked slightly panicked at that news. He hadn’t fully gotten through research on modern medications and he remembered hearing about people dying from it before. But, medicine was much better now. Was it solved?

"Is it dangerous?" he asked. Bruce groaned.

"Not really. But, he would have been contagious before even getting sick. So already we have the germs. There isn't much we can do," Bruce mentioned. The group frowned. "Look, if you guys caught it, then you would already be sick by now. I put him on some antibiotics for strep. And he has been complaining less but I think the vomiting is making it hard to completely cure."

"Okay. That covers the fever, vomiting, cough, and throat. What about his ears and the whole looking down?" Natasha inquired. Bruce sighed.

"Uh, ear infection which I didn't treat... And that can easily turn into meningitis," Bruce explained. Natasha's eyes widened in shock.

"Isn't that deadly?" she called. Steve jerked back in response, looking to Bruce in surprise. There was no way. Bruce grunted as he tried to remember back to his training. After a moment, he gave her a saddened look.

"I'm not an actual doctor. You all know this right? I mean, yeah I did some medical treatment in some of the areas I visited but I don't have all the knowledge. Most of what I know is looking up on the web," Bruce told the group. Everyone nodded. They knew it was true but as the only one with any real knowledge, they trusted him. It was as this point that Clint slowly wondered back into the room and promptly sat back in his chair.

"Better now?" Tony sarcastically mocked even though his words were tinged with worry. He may not like being around the archer while sick, he was still concerned that Clint wasn’t getting any better and he half hoped that Clint would sarcastically snap back at him. Clint just leveled a glare on him. It said all that he wanted to say to the billionaire. Tony shrugged it off, twisting so Clint couldn’t see the extreme worry on his face, just as the Avengers Alarm began blaring. "Are you fucking me right now?"

"Sir, Director Fury claims that there are six foot salamanders invading Times Square," JARVIS explained to the group. As one, they all sighed and began getting up. Pepper stayed seated as she watched the Avengers all stand. Her mind took a minute to catch up with her seeing Clint also getting up and getting ready to go. But when it did, she stood.

"SIT BACK DOWN!" she yelled. The Avengers froze, unsure what to do. Clint winced under her gaze.

"What?" he whined as though he wasn't dangerously sick. Pepper's eyes narrowed.

"You will either sit back down right now, or I'll have Steve tie you to a chair," she threatened. Clint grimaced as he looked to the Captain. Steve gave him a small smirk. That smirk showed that he'd easily be willing to help leave Clint behind, even if it meant tying the archer up.

"Uh, isn't there a board meeting?" Tony randomly reminded the angry woman. Pepper stopped glaring at Clint just long enough to be surprised that Tony remembered and then groan.

"Yes," she moaned. Tony smirked. Bruce and Pepper on the other hand frowned. At that point, Natasha understood what Tony was saying. Pepper had told her only a few days before hand about the meeting, so Natasha knew.

"Can we trust you not to do anything stupid?" the Russian asked, glaring at the archer. Clint looked back at her with a soft smile. Steve snorted, not believing it for one minute. Even Bruce and Tony didn’t seem all that convinced. Natasha's eyes narrowed as she tried to judge what Clint was saying. Then she realized who she was talking to. "The Helicarrier. We can drop him off in Medical on the way."

"Wait, isn't the Helicarrier on the other side of the world?" Tony questioned. Natasha went to answer, but Bruce beat her.

"Actually, since Clint has come back to the Tower, Fury has left the carrier around New York. Just in case we needed to drop Clint off for whatever reason. He wanted there to be no delay," the doc explained. Tony frowned.

"Why was I not told this?"

"Wasn't important," Clint answered for the others. He then turned back to Natasha and Bruce. "I won't follow! I'll stay here, please!"

"And what happens if you pass out? JARVIS can track your ailments but he can't help if something dire happens. You need someone watching you," Bruce countered. Clint frowned and mumbled something like 'I'm not a kid.' To which Bruce retorted. "Then stop acting like one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one bites the dust! God, I can't wait for you guys to read deeper into this series. This first four stories were originally written as separate stories with an alternating name. But once it gets deeper in, they connect a bit better.
> 
> Darius had a very disappointing weekend. We all expected his grandparents to come and get him for the weekend like they typically always do. Now, hubby and I are fine if they want/need a weekend off. Gigi had a migraine that lasted all weekend so it was understandable that she wouldn't come. Problem was, we had no idea until bed time that night. We still have yet to hear from Granddad as to why he hadn't com. If it happens again, I don't know how Darius is going to handle it. Other than that, we got a new couch which is technically four separate chairs that look like they fit together nicely. When we mentioned to Darius that our blue couch was going to be taken away, he pitched a gigantic crying fit. Took us a while to realize that Darius didn't want to lose the blue couch cause it reminded him of the times he played on it with his brother. Once hubby and I heard that, we then agreed to not remove it. So, it's now crowding up our office.


	4. Helicarrier Fun

It took about another half hour of each and every Avenger making their arguments as to why Clint needed to go to the Helicarrier. In the end, a video feed phone call from Fury was what ended the whole fight. Fury ordered the sick agent to be dropped off on the Helicarrier as the others headed off to the fight. So, begrudgingly, Clint allowed himself to be dropped off. Course when he was told to go to Medical. Well, he was told and not ordered. They also never said he had to go there right away. So, Clint began wandering around the carrier.

Now normally, Clint would take to the vents and go to certain areas of the carrier. But, everyone's arguments about him passing out or other such nonsense did make him worry. God forbid he was locked away in a tight corner of the vents, where no one normally traveled, and he passed out. Only Natasha and Coulson would search the vents for him. And with Natasha gone for who knew how long, no one would find him. So, he took to the halls and kept on getting strange looks from other agents. Many were just curious as to why he was in the hall but a few still gave him a wary or angry gaze. Though it had been close to a year, there were a lot of agents that remembered that Clint started on Loki's side. Even if it wasn't his choice. Most of those that were likely to give him issues had been transferred to other stations but they might not have counted on certain ones.

Within that same time period, Clint was slowly mostly over the idea that many of his friends and fellow agents either died by his hand or because he had attacked the Helicarrier. Nearly all of the funerals were over. But there was one that Director Fury was delaying as long as possible. He claimed that it was because he wanted that funeral to be last. But whenever it got scheduled, Fury would send either Natasha or Clint away. Both of whom had already demanded to be there for this funeral and Fury had agreed. So, Clint suffered. He had no where to say goodbye to his friend, mentor, handler and almost brother. Phil Coulson was not yet buried.

"Barton? What are you doing here?" a familiar voice called. Clint looked up to the person. It was Maria Hill. Giving her a light smile, Clint tilted his head with a mock play tone, hiding the fact that his head spun with the twisted angle now.

"I am an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even if I am on medical leave," Clint retorted. Hill snorted.

"Not what I mean. Bruce warned that you may have meningitis. That is contagious. He also mentioned a possibility of strep throat," Hill muttered. Clint nodded, having heard the diagnosis while in the middle of their fight about sending Clint here or leaving him at the Tower. He ignored it then and would ignore it now.

"Well then," Clint began before leaning forward and doing an exaggerated cough. Hill grimaced and leaned away from the sick archer. All Clint could do was smile at her. Finally, rolling her eyes, Hill shook her head and turned to walk away. Clint's smile dropped as he watched her begin to leave. "Really? Not going to argue that I need to be in Medical?"

"I could use some time off," Hill responded as she continued down the hall, not a care in the world. Clint snorted, now more pleased with himself then before. It was then, that Hill gave him an idea. He was normally always a practical joker, so why not do that? Just being here in the circulated air, he was/had infected the whole carrier. So, why not go around the carrier acting more like the diseased 'dead' man?

So, off he went to go find some props to use. His first stop was Medical. There he grabbed some bandages, a patient gown, an IV needle, some tape and surprisingly, some tissues. Once done there, he headed toward his old room which Fury left active as a just in case. Hidden away, Clint began to wrap the bandages around his head, his right arm and left leg. Then he added the IV needle to the back of his left hand and taped it down like so many nurses had done to him before. He was pretty certain that a lot of people would be pissed to know that he knew how to get an IV in him, but they weren’t here to get mad at him. Following that, he dressed in the gown. Looking in the mirror of his room, he felt like it wasn't enough. Turning about, Clint remembered his make-up kit.

One of the perks of being a spy is that you get make-up kits that are filled with all sorts of tools. Another perk of being Clint is that not only is he a spy, but he was a carny (or circus/carnival performer depending on how you want to look at it). That meant he had done day after day of make-up application to not only himself but to a few others as well. Which, made him rather a professional now-a-days. Hell, Natasha had been known to ask him for help when she needed to apply make-up. So, Clint got to work.

By the time he was done, he looked like a dying zombie like man. His face was flushed from not only a heavy blush but also from his fever, which he could feel was rising. A quick glance at the clock had Clint realize he was about an hour away from taking his meds. He’d be fine. The bandages on his head were wrapped in such a way that it looked like he was missing his right ear and his hair was stuck up in multiple directions. His right arm was wrapped from his wrist to his elbow and there was a painted scar running up the rest of his arm. He also increased the redness around the IV insertion point, as though he was either infected or allergic to what Medical had given him. And lastly, his left leg was bandaged up from the ankle to midway up the thigh.

Pleased with his work, Clint faux limped over toward his door and headed out into the hall. Not a second later, an intern ran screaming in the opposite direction. Happier then he had been all week, Clint went to work scaring as many people as he could. If they didn't notice him right away, he'd moan and groan until they turned. After that, it was normally a similar pattern. Some panicked and ran off. Others froze. A few, mostly women, passed out. But many, who were used to Clint's pranks, paused before laughing at him. So, that meant all the others had been junior agents. Well, they better get used to this shit now. Mentally, Clint also took stock of who had what reaction so he could report it to Cou.... Fury.

"Really man? Is that supposed to scare me?" one brazen agent asked. Clint, not knowing the agent's name, smirked.

"Haven't you heard? I'm contagious," he threatened and was satisfied with the agent's paling face. Laughing, Clint continued on and missed what happened next.

"Agent Sanchez?" a once familiar voice called to the frozen, pale agent. Sanchez turned to look at who was calling him. Seeing the person, he quickly stood straighter and glanced back down the hall to make sure Clint was indeed gone. Noticing that the archer had indeed moved on, Sanchez replied.

"Agent Coulson. Agent Barton is wandering around acting like a zombie," the younger agent answered even though he hadn't been fully asked. Coulson smiled lightly, having missed the familiar antics of his once asset. Nodding, Coulson went to turn back down the hall he came from, but Sanchez wasn't done yet. "Sir, he looks really bad besides."

"What do you mean?" Coulson questioned, turning back around to face the young man. Sanchez gulped, feeling rather nervous now that he had the older agent's full attention. He looked back toward the hall that Clint had walked down. Almost as if he wished the other agent would return. Noting that Sanchez was stalling, Coulson cleared his throat.

"Has no one told you?" Coulson tilted his head to the side, waiting to see if Sanchez would add to the statement. But still, the young agent stalled. Sighing, Coulson spoke.

"Told me what?"

"Uh. Barton has been sick for the past week or so. Medical and Banner have no idea what he fully has," Sanchez reported. Coulson frowned and looked down the path that Sanchez had glanced down so many times. Now he was worried. Clint was well known for not relaxing even if he was ill. Hell, there were times that Clint would arrive at a rendezvous point after a mission and he'd either be injured or looking rather ill.

"Is he getting better?" Sanchez shifted in nervousness. He really didn't want to be the one telling the older agent about his previous asset's health.

"Uh. Well, not that I have heard. Banner actually just reported that Barton may have a mixed illness. There was mention of not only the flu but also strep throat and meningitis," Sanchez explained. Coulson's eyes narrowed before he nodded and headed down the hall that Clint had vanished down. Even though the archer had a huge head start, Coulson figured he'd catch up sooner rather then later. "Sir!"

"Hmm?"

"Well, uh. The Avengers still don't know you survived. Fury hasn't informed them," Sanchez reminded the older agent. Coulson groaned, having had that been mentioned to him so many times since he had woken. Fury was the first one to inform him that the Avengers believed him dead. Hill was the main focus for reminding him. And Sitwell, the Avenger's handler, had to keep him calm during times when any of the Avengers (Clint) got injured or captured. It was just so hard for Coulson to leave the group alone.

"I remember," he retorted before continuing after Clint. Sanchez sighed deeply. Not knowing what else to do, the young agent headed off toward the control room. He could only pray that Hill was there and he could report what was going on.

Meanwhile, Clint had been off scaring more and more agents, interns and other S.H.I.E.L.D personal. He had been having so much fun that he wasn't paying attention to how he was feeling. The pain meds that Bruce had given him that morning were wearing off. His head was pounding so bad, his throat was dry and on fire, and he was having a hard time moving his neck. Not only was all that bad but he was feeling dizzy and his legs felt like he had run at least three marathons.

Pausing to take a break, Clint leaned up against a wall. Resting there, Clint felt slightly better. But his stomach was beginning to cramp and it almost felt like he was going to vomit. Moaning, Clint pushed away from the wall and almost face planted against the other wall across the hall. But someone caught him. Groaning, Clint looked up.

"Whoa there. Calm down. It's okay," a once familiar voice told the archer. Clint frowned and focused more on the person holding him. Through slightly blurred vision, he noticed him. Jerking back, Clint crashed into the wall he had been leaning against. His breathing came fast and hard now as he stared at the man before him. A soft smile spread across the other man's face. "And here I thought that I should be scared of you. All zombie-fied."

"Coul... Coulson?" Clint slurred out. The man's smile softened even more before he reached for Clint again.

"Come on, let's get you to medical," he answered. Clint jerked away again but lost his balance and promptly fell down onto his butt. His face was more flushed then before and he felt like he was freezing. But his head was hurting so bad and he was so dizzy. His breathing still had yet to calm down.

"Coulson? You... You can't be..." Clint gasped as he began trying to move away from the once dead agent before him. At this, Coulson frowned. While he hadn’t actually meant to have Clint see him, Coulson had no idea that Clint would panic once they did cross paths.

"Listen, Clint. You need to calm down," Coulson began but stopped when he noticed that speaking made Clint even worse. The archer's eyes widened in fear and his breathing became more rapid to the point that he was almost hyperventilating. Worried about his previous asset, Coulson took a step forward, hoping that skin contact would help calm the archer. Sadly, when he stepped forward, Clint reached out to attack. The older agent was able to quickly catch Clint's hands and held them tight. But as he held them, Coulson realized they were freezing cold. A huge contradiction to the archer's fevered face.

"You're dead!" Clint screeched. Coulson groaned before pulling the archer to his feet. Clint stumbled as he tried to back away but Coulson still had a tight grip on his hands.

"CLINTON FRANCIS BARTON!" Coulson snapped as Clint vainly struggled against the older agent's hold. Clint froze. Now he was certain that it was Coulson standing before him but his body wouldn't calm down. Feeling dizzier then before, Clint tried to shift to lean against a wall again, but Coulson held him still. "You need to calm down."

"Coul-" Clint began before his stomach finally decided that it was dizzy enough and full enough. Everything went all over Coulson's front. At first the older agent was shocked at the spray but when Clint doubled over and continued on the floor, Coulson knew something was wrong.

"Clint?" Coulson worriedly called but Clint couldn't respond. He was still busy vomiting on the floor. It was mostly bile now but still. At least something was coming out. Clint hated dry heaving. But a moment later, both Clint and Coulson feared for the worse. Clint began vomiting up blood. Thankfully Coulson had a radio. "I have a medical emergency outside of room 345 B! Assistance needed now!"

Clint glanced up at Coulson in the middle of his vomiting and groaned. He could only hope that when this was over, the older agent would be by his side. Coulson looked down at Clint's watering eyes. He could see the fear that he wouldn't be there during the time in Medical. All Coulson could do was pray along with Clint. But it didn't last long. Clint did one last vomiting addition of blood before his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly passed out against his old handler.

\----------

Clint woke up about three hours later. Course he didn't realize that at first. All he realized was that he was laying on a firm yet slightly soft mattress, it smelt like antiseptic, and there was a soft beeping in the background masking the soft whispers of conversation. Groaning, Clint opened his eyes and started to look around. Thankfully the lights were dimmed down and so it didn't bother him. Not that there was anything to bother right now. He felt normal for the first time in, what felt like, forever.

"Clint?" came a soft female voice. Clint focused on it and saw Natasha, who was sitting in a chair beside his bed, was watching him. The archer gave her a soft smile, which she returned. "Hey."

"I thought you were on a mission," Clint croaked. Natasha stood then and reached forward to rub the back of her hand against his cheek. Her cool hand felt nice and so he leaned into it.

"I was, two hours ago. You were found in an empty hallway, unconscious," Natasha explained. Clint frowned and looked away. It was then that he noticed the other Avengers in the room. Bruce was standing at the end of his bed, looking over his medical chart. Tony was sitting by the door, just in case Clint began throwing up again. Steve and the suddenly returned Thor shared the visiting couch that had been specially made to hold both of their larger forms.

"Your fever spiked and you indeed did have a bad case of meningitis, which mostly untreated had created a large amount of swelling in your head. So you dropped unconscious. You are very lucky that we brought you to S.H.I.E.L.D. If you had been alone in the tower there could have been irreparable damage. As it is, the doctors fear that between the meningitis and the medication used to fix it, there may be some type of brain damage. But, we won't know that for another few days," Bruce mentioned as if Clint really cared about his health at the moment.

"I was found alone?" Clint asked, unsure. Natasha and Bruce frowned, upset that Clint didn't even seem to hear about his health. But his eyes showed something that made Natasha nod in agreement to him. Clint looked away from her in confusion. "I swear that Coulson was there."

The room went still. No one spoke. Not even a single one of them moved. They all just stared at the archer. It took a minute before he looked up and met each one of their faces. Tony had an eyebrow raised, unsure if he should make fun of Clint or not. Bruce looked worried. He was almost certain that Clint had a delusion but he didn't really want to assume. Steve seemed sadden. The guilt of never being able to sign Coulson's Captain America cards still fresh even after all this time. Thor was looking like he was debating how to let Clint know that the older agent was dead. And Natasha had a frown on her face. Clint realized they were all skeptical, but as he thought back on it all, he was certain that Coulson had been there.

"I'm not crazy. I saw Coulson. I'm positive he was there with me. He called medical," Clint mentioned so angrily at the group that they all wondered what to do now. A few of them were afraid that Clint would attack them if they said something. While the others were afraid that Clint had some new mental problem. As Clint focused on the other Avengers once again, his eyes narrowed into slits. "I heard him! I felt him holding me! HE WAS THERE!"

"Clint, we aren't saying that you didn't!" Bruce called, fearful that if Clint got too upset then he'd endanger himself. No one spoke as they waited to see what Clint would do. Clint patiently waited for someone (Tony) to disagree with Bruce. But when no one did, Clint focused his anger onto Bruce.

"But you don't believe me."

"Clint, I'm sorry. But if Coulson was alive, don't you think that Fury would have told us by now?" Bruce pointed out. Clint frowned and looked away. He had no argument for Bruce and so he decided to stay silent. Figuring that Clint was done talking about it, Bruce moved on. "Look, I talked to Medical and they've agreed with my assessment. Your sickness is not just one bad illness. You actually got hit with multiple illnesses as once."

"Lucky me." Tony snorted in humor. Steve gave the archer a soft smile, knowing very well what it was like getting hit with multiple sicknesses at one time. But at least _he_ was smart enough to stay down (unless one could have asked Bucky and found out the truth that Steve was just as bad a patient as Clint). Thor seemed confused, as a god he barely ever got sick, never mind sick with multiple illnesses. Natasha backed away, having not heard what Clint was sick with, she really didn't want to catch anything (forgetting that she was already infected with whatever it was). Bruce didn't even seem to notice the sarcasm as he continued to state what Clint was afflicted with.

"You started out with a simple flu but had added strep throat and possibly an ear infection. The ear infection seems to have cleared up on it's own but that was what created the meningitis. Now, I had assumed you had strep throat so I've been giving you some antibiotics for that and so it's pretty much gone. The flu has been running it's course but the antibiotics for the strep throat helped stopped it from getting worse. You are now on some meds for that. Our biggest worry is definitely the meningitis. That is a very deadly disease that has gotten slowly worse as I didn't treat it. The whole disease was slowed, again thanks to the other medication you were on. But now you are on the correct meds and should be okay to leave here later today. Course, JARVIS and I will watch over you much more then before as a just in case," Bruce explained. Clint blankly nodded, not too concerned with what Bruce was talking about. Bruce, seeing that Clint wasn't really paying attention, sighed before looking at the others. "We should go get some food and rest. Besides, Clint could use the rest as well."

Everyone agreed and within minutes it was just Clint and Natasha left in the room. Clint, who had been mostly ignoring his visitors, took an extra five minutes before he noticed that Natasha had stayed. She had retaken her seat beside his bed and had just been staring at him, waiting. Now that he was focused on her, she smiled softly but he spoke first.

"I thought Bruce said you needed food and rest."

"I stole a granola bar before coming in here and have been pretty much resting. I don't need to sleep right now. Besides, I want to make sure you won't try and escape Medical right now," Natasha retorted. Clint frowned but nodded. He knew that if he had indeed been left alone, he'd have run off. Hell, he'd have been venturing around the Helicarrier looking for Coulson if Natasha wasn't watching him. Clint relaxed into the bed.

"I hate how well you know me some times." Natasha snorted.

"No, you don't. Besides, I don't think you understand the implications of what Bruce was saying. You are technically dying right now." Clint raised an eyebrow. He didn't think he missed that statement in Bruce's long winded speech. How could he have missed the fact that he was dying? "You have meningitis. It's swelling around the brain stem. If you weren't on meds for other things, you could have died a few days ago without us even really knowing."

"Hmm. That sucks," Clint muttered, trying really hard to not think about it. Natasha rolled her eyes and gripped Clint's hand. He slowly looked down at their joined hands before following her arm up to her shoulder and then to her face. She was giving him a soft sympathetic gaze.

"You'll be okay as long as you rest and take your medication." Clint sighed.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

After that the two feel into a peaceful silence. About ten minutes later, Clint felt himself drifting off. When he tried to fight and stay awake, Natasha slipped into the bed beside him and whispered some soft words that forced him to give in. He was out of it three seconds before Bruce came back to see Natasha curled up around the archer. The doc gave her a soft smile and a nod before turning and leaving the two partners in peace. Natasha feel asleep about seven minutes later. Less then a minute after that, Coulson stepped into the room.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to the duo. They surprisingly slept on. He smiled at that. It showed how much they trusted him that he could visit them while they slept and they didn't stir. For a moment he was proud of all the work he went through to gain their trust but then he remembered. He was dead to them. Coulson didn't exist in their world now. The only ones they had to trust now were each other and hopefully the other Avengers.

Silently, Coulson moved over to them and gently rubbed Clint's cheek and Natasha's left arm. Clint shifted to press harder against the agent's hand but otherwise they didn't stir. Coulson had been with Clint all the way up until Fury called down and told him the Avengers had arrived. He hadn't wanted to leave the younger agent alone for even a moment but... Fury had already told Coulson that he'd be fired or even worse if any more of them saw him. The only reason he wasn’t right now was cause everyone knew they could blame Clint’s illness at the sudden appearance of Coulson.

"You're lucky I know the others have already headed to Stark Tower," came Fury's voice from the door. Coulson froze when Natasha shifted and moaned slightly at the noise but she calmed quickly. The once dead agent spun and gave his director a dark glare before storming out of the room. Once in the hall, Coulson closed the door. Fury's gaze was focused on him.

"You could have just made that even worse," Coulson told the director. Fury glanced back at the room. Seeing that neither agent seemed fazed, Fury couldn't really see the issue and just assumed that Coulson was mad at him for lying to the Avengers. Rolling his eyes, the director looked back at his old friend.

"They are still asleep," Fury needlessly pointed out. Coulson sighed.

"And if you had woken them? Would I have been the one to get in trouble?"

"You were the dead idiot in the room with them," Fury mentioned with a small smile. Coulson snorted, figuring it was always going to be his fault when it came to the Avengers. Even if it was something stupid like say, Tony uploaded JARVIS to the Helicarrier mainframe and the AI alerted the genius to Coulson's presence. Fury would say that Coulson should have know and shouldn't have been on the Helicarrier.

"I still don't see why they can't know," Coulson said, changing the subject to a time old argument that they had been having. Fury groaned before turning and walking away. He almost expected that Coulson would follow. And after a moment, Coulson did just that.

"I'm already on uneasy ground with most of them. Stark can quit at any point. Hell, he still isn't even qualified for the Avenger Initiative. Banner is only around because Stark and Rogers have taken a liking to him. Hell, even Romanoff and Barton are stuck in the Initiative because of Manhattan."

"I thought Cli- Barton was always part of the Initiative? Even Banner was considered if he'd be willing. And from what I hear, he seems to be rather willing," Coulson responded, sounding confused. When he tried to say Clint's first name, Fury leveled a glare on the agent and Coulson quickly fixed it.

"Barton doesn't know. And Banner... If he finds out that we wanted him for the whole project, he'll run. So, I'm letting them assume that only Rogers and Stark were considered. But Romanoff... I'm partly surprised that she's still going along with it. The Black Widow was already widely known and that never seemed to hinder her before."

"So you think that if they see that I'm alive it will dissolve them?"

"Not dissolve them. But... Stark is already impossible to control. Imagine if he learned about my lie? He'd fight to take the Initiative away. And depending on how the others take it, they may follow," Fury explained. When Coulson frowned in disbelief, Fury sighed. He focused more on the other agent. "They've been through a lot as a group. And most of it focused around your passing. If they find out that you weren't dead many of them will feel betrayed. Barton and Rogers being the main two. I can't lose this group."

"Is the Council still on your ass?" Coulson asked. Fury stopped walking now. He sighed once again and looked up to the ceiling as though he was praying. Coulson paused and waited for an answer.

"The Council doesn't just want my ass. Ross has been begging to get at Banner. I've had to try to come up with random reasons as to why Hammer has to stay in jail. Some of the Council, even after clearing Barton, still want to throw him in jail or even put him back on death row. Romanoff is back to one mission failure away from being called a traitor again. Never mind the fact that the Council wants Thor locked down every time he appears on earth."

"Ah." Fury looked back down at Coulson with a slightly confused expression.

"That's all you have to say?" Couson shrugged. There wasn’t much else one could say to that list of issues. Fury snorted before the two began walking again. "If I lose the Avengers, Hill will take my job. And you know that she already doesn't like Stark, Barton and Banner. Never mind the fact that she even mentioned at one point about reopening the super solider program."

"So, me being kept from the Avengers is what stops all that from happening?" Fury glanced over at the agent. Coulson wasn't focused on Fury at all. He seemed to be off in his own world. Sighing, Fury brought his friend back into the conversation.

"Lets hope so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are spelling errors or grammatical errors in this chapter, sorry. I don't have the energy to actually edit this.
> 
> Darius is doing good. No illness. So far, things have been okay with our family. Everything around us is shutting down and holing up due to the virus. We can only pray that hubby's job still pays him when the place closes. Though, the mall is dying so much that I doubt it would have enough people visiting to need to close. We'll see though.
> 
> Everyone stay safe out there.


	5. Computer Skills

It was the next day when Medical released Clint back into the Avengers care. For a few hours, Bruce, Tony and Natasha were worried that Medical wouldn't release the archer. The staff had blamed Bruce for not realizing Clint's medical condition before hand. But when Natasha mentioned that Clint was going to start trying to escape or just generally being an ass, Medical was good to let him go. But, they gave JARVIS a new command that stated if anything seemed to change, anything at all, they would be alerted and if need be, JARVIS would allow them into the tower to get to Clint. Tony was the only one who hated this idea, but he was quickly out-voted for the need and the promise that JARVIS could remove the command once Clint was back to normal.

So now the Avengers were on their way back to the Tower. Clint still was vomiting up whatever he was given. Even if it was just as simple as water, a few minutes after drinking, up it would come. Bruce mentioned that his body was rejecting everything because of how sick he really is. Still, that news didn't make anyone feel any better about the whole thing.

It took only thirty minutes to arrive and when they did, Pepper was waiting for them. She gave the archer a soft smile when she noticed him coming off the Quinjet but he didn't respond to her in kind like normal. Natasha noticed such, and began to get more worried about Clint's mental state. He had briefly complained once again about some loud ringing in his ears, but no one really was that concerned. They were focused on getting rid of the meningitis. But now, Natasha wondered if maybe she should take into consideration everything he mentions, including the appearance of Coulson.

"I cleaned the living room up a little and so it's ready for you," Pepper declared when Clint was about to walk past her. The other Avengers stopped and waited for him to say anything. Clint nodded but seemed displeased. After a second, he sighed.

"Actually, I think I want to hang in my room for now. Thanks," he muttered before continuing on by himself. Everyone watched as he headed to the elevator and once he disappeared inside, Pepper looked back to the group.

"What happened at S.H.I.E.L.D?" she asked. The group traded looks, trying to figure out who was going to be the one who answered the CEO. Pepper's gaze landed on Steve, deciding for them.

"Clint claims he saw Coulson," Steve admitted softly. Pepper gasped, hope lighting her eyes but Steve shook his head. "Medical said that his fever was spiking and two of his illnesses both can have delusions."

"So, you think he didn't see Coulson?" Pepper questioned, sounding just as crushed as all the Avengers felt.

"It's not that. We believe he saw Coulson. It's just... We can't actually believe that Coulson was really there," Bruce explained. Pepper nodded, understanding the difference. But it was still upsetting to hear. It was even more upsetting when Pepper realized how close Clint must have been with Coulson to now want complete and utter privacy.

"I'm gonna go check on him," Natasha stated but before she could pass the CEO, Pepper caught her and shook her head. Natasha frowned. "He needs to be watched."

"JARVIS can watch him. Just... Give him some space for now. At least an hour," she softly told the other woman. Natasha mentally snarled but nodded in agreement. Pepper then looked to the rest of the group. "The same goes for all of you. Just leave him be unless JARVIS says otherwise."

Meanwhile, Clint arrived at his room and entered it quickly before spinning around and locking the door. Backing away from the door, he waited for the knocking of someone wanting to come in. After a minute or two of nothing, Clint began to believe that maybe they would actually leave him alone. Pleased, he turned and headed toward the living room area of his apartment. There, he sat down at the small corner desk and turned on his computer.

"Agent Barton, is there something I may help you find?" JARVIS called into the room when the computer fully loaded. Clint looked up toward the ceiling for a moment, as if thinking about it but he didn't respond. All he could think was that the other Avengers were using JARVIS to spy on him. And what he was about to do was... Well, illegal. "Agent Barton, if you do not answer I will assume you are unconscious and will call S.H.I.E.L.D Medical."

"I'm fine JARVIS," Clint quickly retorted. As he stated this, Clint loaded up a program similar to what Tony used before to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D's mainframe. Few knew of the archer’s expertise around technology, specifically computer engineering. From there, Clint began working on changing and updating the program used by him during his attack to focus on what he wanted. Silently, in the background, JARVIS slipped into Clint's computer and watched the code that the archer was typing in. Every once in a while, he'd change a small piece of code to make sure that the program wouldn't damage S.H.I.E.L.D's systems. Clint barely noticed at first, but then after just finishing typing a line, JARVIS changed it. The archer froze.

"That code would have damaged the security in the prison cells and could potentially release all prisoners. Would you like my help?" JARVIS inquired when he noticed that Clint had stopped working. Clint jerked away from the computer but then got wicked dizzy and promptly dropped onto his ass. "Agent Barton?"

"How did you? Why did you? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Clint cried, as he slowly got back to his feet. JARVIS took a minute to respond as he registered all of Clint's questions.

"Sir has given me the ability to join any system that is connected to the Tower's. I did so to see what you were doing. And I am making small changes to your code in hope that together, we will not damage any of S.H.I.E.L.D's systems when you send the program. But, I am still unsure what you are looking for and am offering help," JARVIS intoned as though it was obvious. Clint sighed deeply as he relaxed. He had feared that Tony had JARVIS hacking into his computer to steal information or watch Clint. Hell, sometimes knowing that the AI is everywhere in the Tower made the agent nervous.

"Will you tell the others what we are doing?"

"Sir has made mention before that I am never to tell anyone when I am hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D unless I am ordered to by Sir himself. I can add to this by saying that when I am helping you, you must order me to tell someone about it rather than Sir overriding it. It has to be with your permission," JARVIS mentioned. Clint smiled. That would be so much more helpful. It was hard to think straight on his programming and if JARVIS had fixed other pieces of code, Clint really didn’t wanna think about how much he fucked up.

"Sure."

"So, Agent Barton, what am I looking for?"

"Uh, the camera footage around where and when I was found by medical. I want to see if... Well, if Coulson was actually there," Clint admitted. Once he finished speaking, his computer screen began to quickly fill up with codes and Clint even noticed some of the beginning of the codes were changing. It took three more minutes before a video screen popped up and showed an empty hallway. "Uh, do you have to do forward or back?"

"Forward. I chose five minutes before medical found you," JARVIS answered before the video began speeding up. A second later, Clint (dressed as his zombie form which was cleaned in Medical) appeared. It stopped speeding by and slowed to show zombie Clint lean back against the wall. Clint sat down in the chair and stared at the screen.

"Coulson will show up any second. I know it," Clint declared. JARVIS slowly sped up the video and then returned it to normal when zombie Clint pitched forward before the whole video cut out. "WHAT? JARVIS, what happened?"

"It appears that the video was damaged. I shall play it again from where it picks back up," JARVIS replied. A second later the video showed Clint plastered to the ground and Medical rushing around his prone form. Clint swore and slammed his fists down onto the desk. Growling, he got to his feet and spun around, only to lose his balance and fall.

"SHIT!" Clint cried as he crashed down onto the floor. Thankfully the chair had been pushed far enough away that he didn't hit that and he turned in such a way that he just barley missed clipping the wall behind him. Groaning, Clint simply laid there.

"Agent Barton? Shall I call Doctor Banner?" JARVIS questioned. Clint shook his head lightly before realizing that JARVIS might not see him.

"No. I'm fine," Clint responded before slowly working on getting up. As he did, his stomach decided it wanted to empty itself some more and so Clint reached for the trash bucket near his desk and expelled the bile into it.

"I am reading elevated heart rate, a slightly higher fever and am hearing sounds of vomiting. Are you sure I should not call Doctor Banner or S.H.I.E.L.D medical? This is a change that all doctors wished to be informed of," JARVIS once again inquired. Sadly Clint couldn't respond. He was still going at it even though he was now starting to dry heave. "Agent Barton?"

"DON'T!" Clint choked out as soon as he was able to. JARVIS gave off a sound that seemed similar to a groan of protest but as Clint stopped and sat back, he assumed that the AI didn't call anyone. Grumbling his own protest, Clint stood and slowly made his way over to his couch. Plopping down, the archer looked angrily back at his computer. "JARVIS?"

"Yes?"

"Is there any way you can try to fix the file? Or... Actually, look through the halls around that area before and after. Follow me during the whole time that I'm dressed like that and keep watching each video for ten minutes after I leave the area. Someone had to have sent Coulson after me," Clint declared. JARVIS said nothing but Clint noted that his computer screen had yet again filled with codes. Nodding in pleasure, Clint leaned back into the couch and promptly passed out.

\----------

"Sir! Someone is hacking into the video footage from earlier today!" a random agent cried through the open door of Fury's office. Fury glanced over at his companion, Agent Coulson. He had been warning that if Intel didn't get all the footage of him then someone would find him. Fury assumed it was more then likely Tony but Coulson knew better.

"I warned you that showing yourself to any of them would be dangerous," Fury snapped. Coulson rolled his eyes. He had been hearing that for the past few hours and it was getting a little annoying. But Fury was his boss, so Coulson couldn't say anything.

"Yes, I understand that, sir. But Barton needed someone watching over him. He could have died if I wasn't there," Coulson stated. Fury groaned. He had no idea what to really say to that. It was true that Clint had needed someone watching over him. Hence why the Avengers had dropped the archer off at the Helicarrier. But, did that person have to be Coulson? Fury thought not.

"Someone would have found him sooner or later," he weakly argued. Coulson leveled a gaze on Fury that stated, 'are you sure?' Fury groaned and looked away from his friend. Coulson smirked. The previously 'dead' agent knew he had won this argument. But how long was that going to last until Fury came up with a better excuse, he had no idea. "I'm gonna kill Stark."

"It might not be Stark. Clint is good with computers too. I mean, wasn't it proven that he created that hacking arrow?" Coulson pointed out. Fury snorted, unsure if he should actually believe Coulson or not. Then again, Coulson had worked with Clint for nearly all of the archer's time at S.H.I.E.L.D. "And besides, it has been stated that all the Avengers can ask JARVIS for help. Why wouldn't one of the others use the AI to break into S.H.I.E.L.D? I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't Stark or Clint and it was Natasha instead. But it could be Banner."

"Romanoff? I highly doubt that. And there is no way that Banner would hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. He's smarter then that," Fury declared. Coulson raised an eyebrow at the wording that his friend used. Fury paused as he wondered why Coulson was doing such an action. It was then that he realized his wording. Banner was smart, but Tony was a genius and he hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D all the time. Fury leveled a glare at his friend. "You know what I mean."

"I do, but you can't just dismiss them as not doing it just because they have never done it before. Remember, we never thought that Banner would be working with us in any sense. Yet, he is a R&D consultant and a member of the Avengers Initiative," Coulson pointed out. Fury scoffed.

"That doesn't mean that he's hacking us," Fury mentioned. Coulson inclined his head in agreement to that statement but didn't look like he was going to back down. Fury groaned then and sat back. "What if it is Barton?"

"Would that be an issue?" Coulson asked, humor lightly tinting his voice. Fury's eyes rolled before gazing darkly at the agent. It was almost as if he was trying to answer the question with just his eyes. Coulson chuckled. "He isn't that bad, sir."

"Isn't? Isn't that bad? You found him dressed as a fucking zombie! Not that bad, my ass," Fury groaned, sitting back into his chair and looking to the ceiling. Coulson smiled, remembering different incidents with Clint terrorizing the other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "If he finds out that he actually did see you, he will make my life a living hell."

"And you will deserve it." Fury stiffened before slowly looking back down at his friend. Coulson was giving him a soft smile, one that dared Fury to argue with him. The Director moaned and looked back up at the ceiling. "They're going to find out sooner or later. If they've already decided to hack into the video feeds, then they are determined to find out the truth. Intel will never want or be able to go through every bit of the feeds to get rid of me. Especially if they are competing against JARVIS who won’t rest."

"Maybe I'll send them on a mission."

"Clint is dying."

"I'll lock him up in medical. You can stay out of medical until they forget that Barton may have seen you, right?" Coulson quirked his head to the side.

"As long as you don't send me on a mission. My new assets aren't as... Prepared as some of my older ones," Coulson stated. Fury sighed before flopping dramatically down onto his desk. There was a grumbling sound that was too muffled to understand that came from him right after. Coulson's eyebrow rose once again. "What was that, sir?"

"Kill me now."

"I thought me being dead was supposed to avoid that."

"You shouldn't have let Barton see you. Now get the fuck out of my office and help Intel."

"Yes, sir," Coulson saluted before standing and walking toward the door. Fury was still flopped over his desk. Glancing back, Coulson smirked and headed out. Once in the hallway, he looked directly into the camera that faced Fury's office. "Don't do anything too drastic, Avenger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coronavirus.... Damn... Kind of a wrong story to be writing while this whole crap is happening.... Not sure if schools, daycares and hubby's work being closed will be good for me or not... For now. I'm anxious as all heck.
> 
> Darius refused to go to daycare this week on the few days it was open. Didn't want to force him but it was aggravating. Yesterday hubby pulled an all day shift so that he could do inventory in his store. Apparently he will also be doing three more inventories even those his store is officially closed till the end of the month. Currently, Darius is watching his tablet so that I could work on this. He's doing fine. Having fun being home. Making a gigantic mess. Hubby supposedly as plans to use this 'down time' to clean up and finish unpacking the house. I'd like that. Would be nice to finally have this place freaking clean. Would also help to make a list of things we need to buy for either storage or for viewing purposes. We'll see how things go.


	6. Why Can't You Believe Me?

"Agent Barton, I believe I have found something," JARVIS suddenly called after almost two hours of hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D video files. Clint, who had taken to lazing about his couch after waking up with a sore neck only an hour before, sat up straight in response. His eyes glittered with excitement as he rushed to stand and head over to his desk. Sadly, his illness made his head spin and he almost dropped to the ground. But he did, dry heave for a minute. "I am loading it on screen now."

"Thanks," Clint croaked when he finished and dropped into his office desk chair. The video was actually only taken a few minutes before they had started the program of following Clint around. Something that Clint wondered about, but JARVIS had been opening up his searching parameters as he went. So now, Clint was looking at the door leading to Director Fury's office. It slowly opened and out stepped the one man that Clint had been searching for. Clint whooped with joy as Coulson looked straight up to the camera. His mouth opened and then the feed cut out to static. "What the fuck just happened?"

"I apologize Agent Barton, it seems that the data has been corrupted. I can not get any of it back. There is also footage from two hours before hand that have been erased and all footage from Director Fury's office has been damaged. It seems that they do not want you seeing Agent Coulson," JARVIS informed Clint. The archer groaned. It just wasn't fair. Coulson was alive but other then his word, he had no proof. S.H.I.E.L.D was slowly deleting every trace.

"Can you keep looking? All the way back to since the Manhattan attack?"

"I have already done so. Various feeds have been destroyed or corrupted. There are also some mission files since the attack that I cannot access. A few have included clean-ups from Avengers missions. I am also still following the feeds that are working now but it seems that someone is erasing certain feeds before they can post onto the network."

"Can you find out who?" Clint asked as he sat back into his seat. This was getting so annoying. But with JARVIS on the case, Clint could only hope that someone slipped up soon. As JARVIS answered with an affirmative, Clint could hear a loud buzzing in his ears. Lightly rubbing at them, Clint spoke again. "Do it. I want to know who is getting rid of the video. It has to be important if they're working on it right now."

"Yes, Agent Barton. Also, Agent Romanoff is about to enter your room."

"Shit!" Clint cried as he scrambled to shut off the computer screen and get out of his seat. As he stood and turned, Natasha was already standing at the entry on the other side of the living room. Clint gave her a sheepish smile. "Hey, Nat. What's up?"

"I don't want to know. I'm not going to ask. You better not be doing something illegal. But if you are, don't tell me," Natasha listed. Clint nodded, mentally smirking when she said that he better not be doing something illegal. He technically wasn't, but if she asked, he would have to admit that he was involved. "I came down to let you know that dinner is ready."

"Dinner? What happened to lunch?" Clint called as he thought back to his day. Natasha smiled lightly.

"We ate that when we first got back. But you had come down here to be alone," Natasha retorted. Clint groaned. "Are you even hungry?"

"Not really."

"Well, either way, you can join in conversation," Natasha stated before spinning on her heel and heading to the front door of his apartment. Clint took a step after her but then hesitated. Did he really want to socialize right now? He honestly didn't. Especially if he was going to be sitting there watching everyone else eat. It just seemed wrong.

"Do I have to?"

"JARVIS can't keep watching you," Natasha cried from the hall. Clint moaned and headed after her. His face showed his discomfort which made Natasha frown. She stopped him before he could slip past her and head to the elevator. "Clint, we're worried about you."

"Why? Just cause I'm sick? Or is it cause I saw Coulson?" Clint angrily snapped. Natasha's frown deepened. "Look, I'm not feeling good. Having me around food is probably the worst decision we could all make. And I'm really not in the mood to deal with Stark."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with Stark either."

"Yeah but at least he doesn't get sick when you do," Clint pointed out, bordering on not making sense. Natasha rolled her eyes, understanding what Clint actually meant. Clint frowned though as he realized what he said. "That doesn't sound right. At least he doesn't... No... Still not right."

"I get it. If I get sick of him, he won't get sick as well," Natasha scoffed. Clint nodded (ignoring the dizziness that followed the action) with a slight smile on his face. Yup, that was what he meant. She rolled her eyes again, wondering if Clint would stop making excuses. "Since when do you care if you’re bothering Tony, anyways?"

"It's dis-concerning when he gets sick as well. I don't like knowing that it's my fault," Clint softly admitted. It was true, he didn’t like the idea. Never had. Natasha sighed and slowly walked back over to Clint. He twisted away but before he could walk away, Natasha pulled him into a hug. "I hate being sick."

"I know. Everyone normally does. But if you hang out with the rest of us, it may get your mind off of how crappy you’re feeling," Natasha suggested. Clint groaned, so not in the mood for this. But before he could finally tell he that he agreed to go up, Bruce, who had appeared just after the hug, cleared his throat.

"Your meds are waiting upstairs," the doc mentioned. Clint frowned as he glanced between Natasha and Bruce. Natasha had an almost innocent expression on. One that pretty much told Clint that she had expected him to not come and made sure Bruce prepared the meds in the kitchen. Bruce looked nervous. Almost as if he feared that Clint was going to snap at him. "And you should actually eat with them. It'd be easier on your stomach."

"You two double teamed me," Clint accused, the heat of his voice much weaker than he should have used it when he focused solidly on the red headed traitor. Natasha smiled while Bruce shifted uncomfortably. Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Clint sighed. He wasn’t going to win this battle if the two of them had teamed up. "Well, I guess we shouldn't keep the others waiting on us."

"Nope," Natasha agreed and the two headed toward Bruce. The doc nodded, seeing that the assassins would follow, he turned and went to the elevator to set it up. Seconds after, the three headed in, and all the way up to the communal living quarters. There they stepped out into the middle of a fight.

"Leave that be!" Steve was shouting at someone. A loud snort was the retort back. Clint, Natasha and Bruce traded glances before slowly moving toward the kitchen.

"But I'm hungry now," Tony whined as soon as the three began moving. "I don't want to wait for Bird Brain!"

"We aren't eating until everyone is here," Steve snapped as the group rounded the corner. Tony had his back facing them and Steve was focused on Tony's hands so neither one noticed the remaining Avengers enter. Thor and Pepper were patiently waiting at the kitchen table. Thor was watching Tony and Steve in confusion as he normally was the last to arrive for any meal. He had no idea that the two usually fought like this and so was now watching them in interest. Pepper was reading some report from SI so she didn't notice anyone arrived until Bruce sat down beside her. He nodded in greeting, and she did the same before her eyes picked up on Natasha and Clint sitting in their normal seats opposite from her. Clint waved lightly and Pepper smiled as Bruce passed over the waiting pills that had been in front of him.

"We normally eat before Thor gets here, why does that not happen for everyone else?" Tony cried. Steve sighed and gave Thor a quick sympathetic look that the god only frowned at. The Captain’s eyes missing the newly assembled Avengers as he turned back to Tony. But he did grab a salad bowl and turn as though to move it to the table.

"We don't wait for Thor because he is not always here. Sometimes he's in Asgard. But the rest of us are normally always here, so, it's polite to wait," Steve answered, sounding less angry but more annoyed. Tony rolled his eyes in anger before reaching for a piece of chicken. Steve dropped the bowl onto the table right in front of Tony's seat and turned in time to see Tony grabbing the food item. "Tony!"

"What?" Tony asked as he brought the chicken to his lips. Behind the piece, he hid his smile as he noticed the others were resting at the table. "Everyone's here now."

"Bring it to the table first," Steve exasperatingly called. Tony growled as he chewed on the chicken before he snagged the plate and slowly walked it over. Steve groaned before going back into the kitchen to grab some more food items and in a matter of minutes, the group (except Clint) was eating.

"You really should eat with that medication," Bruce mentioned after a few silent moments as everyone started eating. Clint moaned and looked down at the food that was being offered. He really didn't want to eat but he was surprised to see that a lot of the food was something he favored with a hot broth before him. Slowly his eyes narrowed and turned to look at Natasha who was busy looking at Steve on her other side and eating her salad.

"Really?" he muttered to her. Natasha looked back to Clint with a look that asked him what he was thinking. Clint tilted his head down to the food. She glanced at the table and then smiled. But she didn't say anything. He almost growled before looking back down. Apparently he was supposed to make a soup out of his food. But, the food being served also too a long time to make. "How long did it take?"

"Almost as soon as you headed to your room to be alone. Been working on it the whole rest of the time," Natasha finally admitted. Clint rolled his eyes before slowly grabbing his plate and looking about the table. In a matter of moments, he had everything but the salad on his plate and was slowly beginning to break pieces down to toss into the bowl.

"Wait, what just happened?" Tony called as he looked back and forth between the assassins. Pepper leaned over and began explaining what happened as Steve, Bruce and Natasha all smirked. Thor was too busy eating and missed the whole thing. "Oh. Well, now that's just stupid."

"You think everything nice is stupid," Steve countered with a soft angered glance. Tony scoffed.

"So not true."

"Tony, when was the last time you didn't think that?"

"Uh-" Tony began but before he could continue, Pepper looked toward Clint.

"So, I heard you may have seen Coulson on the Helicarrier?" she inquired, wanting to get Steve and Tony away from their fight. She just had no idea how bad of a choice she had made until Natasha stilled, Steve paused, Bruce nearly dropped his fork, and Tony gasped lightly. Again, Thor was too busy eating to notice at first but then he slowed and watched the group with a wary eye. "Is something wrong?"

"Other then the fact that everyone thinks I hallucinated it? No. But, I know I didn't and JARVIS helped prove it," Clint declared in the suddenly tense atmosphere. Pepper perked up. She missed Coulson just as much as the others. But the others were now just as interested. If Clint had proof, then they'd be willing to help him find Coulson and beat the crap out of Fury for lying.

"Where is this proof?" Natasha softly asked, unsure if she wanted the answer. Clint frowned and looked down at his food.

"It got deleted." Natasha's eyes narrowed in disbelief. Steve sighed and began eating again. Bruce frowned before also going back to his meal. Thor stopped eating to watch the whole group. Pepper laid her fork down and looked away from Clint in disappointment, while Tony snorted.

"That's cause it didn't exist," Tony snapped, sounding more sarcastic then angry. Clint's eyes darkened as he focused harder on his meal. "Look, Coulson's dead. He wasn't there. You were found by a random S.H.I.E.L.D agent and brought to the medical area just in time. You just imagined what you wanted it to be."

"Coulson was there! Someone is deleting footage from certain areas since the Manhattan incident! Even now, they are deleting footage!" Clint shouted as he jumped to his feet and promptly began swaying. Natasha stood and grabbed his arm but as soon as he was centered again, Clint ripped it away from her. "I know what I saw and talk to JARVIS, he saw some of the footage before it was deleted."

With that, Clint spun on his heel and stormed out of the room without another word. Natasha sent an angry glare at Tony before chasing after Clint. Pepper went to her feet and gave the billionaire a disappointed gaze before cleaning her place. Bruce sighed, dropped his silverware and stood to help Pepper. Not once did he look at Tony. Steve frowned and pushed his plate away from himself before standing and walking into the kitchen area intent on washing the dishes. Thor glanced at Tony but said nothing.

"What?" Tony snarled after a minute of Thor's gaze. Thor looked down at Tony's unfinished plate.

"May I finish your plate?" Thor asked softly. Tony snorted before sliding the plate down toward the god and standing, intent on heading down to his workshop.

"Have at it," he said before walking off. Thor smiled and quickly began digging in, knowing that basically he couldn't do anything to help Clint so he might as well finish all the food.

\----------

Clint made it to his room just in time to close the door and then have it slam back open as Natasha entered after him. He glanced back at her with an angry snarl but said nothing to her intruding on him. Instead he yanked off his shirt and tossed it to the ground, hoping that him stripping would make her want to leave. Not that they hadn’t seen anything multiple times on missions and such. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped. Clint paused as his hands fumbled with the button on his shorts.

"What the hell was what?" he growled, spinning around to face her, nearly falling over in doing so but catching himself before anything happened. Natasha frowned, her gaze narrowing as she tried to figure Clint out. "I told you I didn't want to hang out around them. I knew that something like this would happen!"

"You let it happen!" she shouted. Clint barked out in laughter.

"I let- I let it happen? Are you fucking kidding me?" Clint snarled. Natasha growled when Clint stormed forward at her. "Tony started that! But he wasn't the worst person. You, you were worse. You're my partner and you don't even think that I saw Coulson!"

"Cause Coulson's dead. We have to get over that," Natasha stated, her words softening as if it could lessen the blow. Clint's eyes darkened in anger before he scoffed at her.

"Do you remember how many times Fury told me that you had died on a solo mission only for Coulson to tell me minutes later that you were captured?" Clint scowled. Natasha frowned. She had similar situations were Fury had told her that Clint had died on his mission but once the debrief was over, Coulson would tell her that Clint had been captured and the Council wasn't allowing a rescue mission. "Why would it be any different with Coulson?"

"Cause Coulson would have spoken to someone by now," Natasha argued. Clint snorted and rolled his eyes, spinning to walk away from her.

"Unless Fury ordered his silence. Why else would the camera footage be destroyed and some files blacked out? Fury is trying to keep Coulson a secret," Clint said, sounding a bit more calm then before.

"Why?" Natasha questioned as if Clint had the answer. Clint shrugged.

"Could be that the Council ordered it. Or maybe, Fury's afraid we'll all stop fighting if Coulson's alive."

"Stop fighting?"

"As the Avengers. Tony would be the first to go. He already doesn't trust Fury. Then probably Steve, in anger at being lied to. Bruce would leave after that, cause the rest of us can't stop S.H.I.E.L.D from wanting to experiment on him. Thor seems like a loose cannon already. And... I'm not sure I'd be protected if the Avengers disband," Clint admitted, getting softer as he spoke the last sentence. Natasha sighed and walked toward the archer. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Protected from what?" Clint relaxed into Natasha's hold. She dropped her head down on his shoulder.

"The Council." Natasha hummed in confusion. She thought that whole mess had been cleared over. Clint sighed and pulled out of her arms to turn and face her. "Fury told me that some of the Council members still want to throw me in jail for everything I did. Having the Avengers as my current teammates, it makes it hard for them to put blame on me."

"The Council still wants to use you as a scapegoat? Even though they were the ones that cleared you as being a POW?" Natasha asked. Clint nodded, his head actually not bothering him this time as he was more careful with the force and speed.

"Why do you think Fury hasn't sent me on any solo missions? I'm always going out with you or one of the others."

"I thought it was because of the things that have happened to you since Manhattan," Natasha suggested. Clint gave her a confused look. "When whoever it was found you and tortured you and when Amora changed you into a hawk."

"Ah."

"Look, I can't prove that you aren't right. But you can't prove that you are right. So, lets just forget the whole thing," Natasha mentioned. Clint nodded before sighing.

"Do you believe that I saw Coulson? That JARVIS found footage of him?" Clint softly inquired. Natasha frowned and let out a deep breath.

"I don't know. I want to believe you. But, I can't bring myself too. Coulson would have given someone a hint or something by now. He knows how much we're all suffering," Natasha answered. Clint groaned. She had a good point. But he couldn't help but feel like they were missing something. Something really important. "Listen, why don't you get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to go to the Helicarrier for a brief on a new solo mission. When that's done we can search the place for evidence. Okay?"

"Sure," Clint responded. Natasha nodded and gave him a soft smile before turning and leaving. Once alone, Clint groaned. He had been so busy getting upset at everything that he hadn't noticed his headache had returned and the buzzing in his ears was worse. Never mind that now that he was calm, his stomach was gurgling up the meds and the few bites of food that he had eaten. Thankfully he was able to get ready for bed and lay down without his stomach rejecting anything. But as he laid on the mattress, he knew that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight and if he did, it wouldn't be restful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG... The Coronavirus is really not good for me as a writer. I have gotten so used to silence, privacy and certainly no TV that now that everyone is home, they are constantly around. I'm having a hard time writing. And while most people (myself included in this thinking) would just say 'grab your laptop and move to another room,' I can't. The reason I can't is because it has been proven to me various times that when I am not around watching Darius, he gets into things he shouldn't and just overall upsets the hubby. So, I stay... I deal... Hopefully by the time this whole event has ended I'll be used to it and can ignore what is happening. Doubtful.
> 
> Darius is doing well as usual. He's enjoying his father being home even if he is still having a hard time convincing people to play with him. Myself again included. I've become the official announcer to many Monster Jam races, free styles and some rather interesting WWE events (mostly cage matches). It's fun, if not distracting. The few times I've tried to physically play with Darius on the floor, I ended up with a sore back that lasted two days and knees that gave me issues the next day. Darius slightly understands, hence being the announcer. That is my version of play. Though lately, Darius will ask me to announce but before I can say anything about what he is doing, he starts announcing. So, I ask him what I should do. 'Be the announcer.' But how can I be the announcer when you are? Well... Apparently I have to be the background announcer that talks about the history of the driver or the 'grudge' match between the wrestlers. Yeah... I do a little bit of that before slowly fading out and seeing how long it would take Darius to notice I stopped. Sometimes it only took a few minutes. One time it took the entire day. Ha, liked that day for writing.
> 
> Baby Jason is doing well. I hardly see him due to his parents staying upstairs and by the time they come downstairs to hang out, I am exhausted so I head upstairs to sleep. Yeah... I'm exhausted from sitting on my ass, on a chair, typing and doing nothing much else. What is wrong with me? Ugh. But, Jason has been a happy little camper. His mother is getting a bit antsy. She doesn't like being cooped up for that long. Doesn't help that we live in Mass and now the 'stay at home' thing has been extended to May or something. (I try to ignore the news on all that)
> 
> For all who are sick or know someone who is sick. I pray for all of you and hope that the various writers posts are helping you pass the time.


	7. Helicarrier Tour

It was about 8 in the morning when Natasha lightly rapped on Clint's door. There was a long pause of silence before she knocked harder. This time there was a groan of someone calling out from a different room. Natasha hesitated. The groan didn't sound like the occupant needed help. But it also didn't sound like it should be made by a normal person. After another minute of Clint not coming to the door, Natasha pounded her fist against the door.

"WHAT?" Clint's voice slurred into a shout. Natasha frowned.

"Clint? Do you still want to head to the Helicarrier with me?" Natasha loudly called through the door. This time the door snapped open to a very harried Clint. It looked like he had just woken and had thrown on the same shorts from the day before. He also had no shirt on, so Natasha could see his really flushed features. "You okay?"

"What?" Clint groaned.

"I asked if you were okay?" she repeated. Clint looked down at himself before growling something unintelligible. Natasha's frown deepened but before she could speak, Clint turned around and headed back into his room. Slowly, she followed and watched as he searched for something. When he found the shirt he had abandoned the day before, she disgustingly watched as he sniffed it, shrugged and tossed it on.

"I'm fine. Just due for some meds," Clint finally answered, sounding slightly slurred. Natasha sighed, ignoring how Clint sounded. She just chalked it up to being sick and tired.

"So you want to go to the Helicarrier with me or hold off?" she asked. Clint looked back at her, trying to remember when he agreed to go to the Helicarrier. It took an extra minute more then it should have because his ears were ringing so bad that it threw off his focus. Never mind the constant headache, but thankfully the meds had been taking a lot of the edge off of it. He just needed to go get them. "Clint?"

"I can go. Just need to visit Bruce before we go," Clint commented, again his voice was slurred but this time Natasha worried. He couldn't still be tired. But as she looked the archer over, Natasha saw more then just exhaustion. His eyes were slightly dull and sunken in. That wasn't all though. She was shocked to see him even slumping over and that it looked like he had lost at least ten pounds. His skin was pale and covered in a slick sheen of sweat. Never mind that it looked like his eyes were twitching with every movement and there have been at least three times in the last two minutes that he reached for his ears and fiddled with them.

"You sure you're okay?" Natasha inquired getting a glare in response before Clint headed back to the door of his apartment. Natasha frowned but decided to let it go and followed after him. Five minutes later, the two assassins were standing before Bruce. They had found him in the one lab that Tony had set up for him. It took another two minutes before Clint began shifting his weight and clearing his throat. But Bruce was still slightly lost in whatever he was doing. So finally, Clint sighed, traded a look with Natasha and decided to speak.

"My meds?" Clint said making Bruce looked up from his work. The doc's eyes widened when he saw how close the two were. He had been so distracted that he didn't even know that they had arrived. But then again, they were assassins and what would an assassin be if they weren't silent when they came upon someone.

"Oh! Yeah, I have the pills upstairs," Bruce declared, trying to cover his shock at the duos 'sudden' appearance. Natasha smirked at the doc's reaction but neither her, nor Clint, commented. Instead, they just backed away when Bruce lead them to the door and upstairs. Seven minutes later, the assassins were on their way to the Helicarrier.

\----------

"Agent Coulson, sir, Director Fury has ordered you to your room," an agent called out down the hall of the Helicarrer. Coulson froze in shock. Fury had never ordered something like that. Slowly, he turned to face the agent. It ended up being a new hire, so it was someone he had never met.

"Excuse me?" Coulson asked, praying that this poor soul made a mistake. His temper with the way that Fury had recently been treating him was on the rise and Coulson really didn't want to freak out at the message boy. Then again, when he noticed the agent's eyes narrow in suspicion, Coulson decided that he didn't care.

"Director Fury has ordered that you go to your room and stay there for the next few hours. A guard will be standing at your door to make sure you follow this order," the agent answered, sounding proud that he was giving the news. Coulson's stance tensed even more but he paused before lashing out. He was getting so pissed now. His hands began clenching and unclenching at his side and he was slowly shaking his head in disbelief. "Shall I inform Director Fury that you will not comply?"

"No, but you can tell him... You know what, forget it," Coulson snapped, so feeling the need to just tell Fury off using the messenger. But at this point he was already in so much trouble for letting Clint see him that he was done with the whole issue. If Fury wanted to make this whole thing out to be bigger than it actually was, Coulson felt he might as well try and make it easier. Spinning on his heel, he began to stalk off down the hall but when he heard matching footsteps, he looked back to see the smirking agent behind him. "What the hell? You gonna escort me to my room?"

"I need to make sure you are complying with the Director's order," the agent said in a very satisfied tone. Coulson had enough. His temper snapped and his fist was slammed into the other agent's face before either of them even realized what had happened. Once Coulson calmed enough to see his fist still thrown out in front of him, the poor agent was down on the ground unconscious and there was beginning to become a small crowd around the two. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the agent was out of it. As they did, Coulson focused on a familiar face, Agent Jasper Sitwell.

"Get him to medical," Coulson ordered his friend before turning around and walking off. The crowd parted for him as he went and surprisingly enough, a small smirk began to appear on Coulson's face. _‘So this is what it feels like,’_ Coulson thought to himself as he remembered all the times that Clint or Natasha attacked other agents. While he was normally never there to see the incident, he always had to deal with the backlash so he was prepared for the extra security waiting at his door. "Don't you think this is a bit suspicious?"

"We are under orders to make sure you go into your room. Then we will lock the door and only one of us will stay to make sure you do not leave," one of the men said. Coulson focused on him and the moment he recognized him, the older agent was stunned. The man was the head of Helicarrier security. Fury was really going all out to make sure none of the Avengers ever saw him again. "I'm sorry for doing this Agent Coulson."

"Orders are orders, I understand that," Coulson stated, trying to make it sound like he could care less. But both men knew that Coulson was anything but. He was tense, angry, and about ready to burst again if anyone said the wrong thing. "Do we know how long this will be for?"

"Agent Romanoff is coming for a debrief on a solo mission. She should be gone in an hour or two," came a new voice. Coulson turned and spotted Hill coming down the hall to his room. The older agent frowned but nodded a greeting to her. "I hadn't heard the call saying you made it so I came to see what the problem was."

"The problem was the junior agent Fury sent with the message," Coulson nearly growled at her. Hill nodded, a small smirk on her face.

"Yeah, I heard about that on the way down. You knocked his lights out?"

"He was too smug," Coulson retorted, hearing the head security man snort. Hill's smirk grew into a smile. Coulson, still on edge from this whole issue, narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"It's like you’re channeling Barton right now," Hill joked. It was perfect. Coulson paused as he thought about what she said and then something in him just popped. He started laughing. All his anger rushed out of his body, his posture relaxed and he was beginning to smile. Hill and the security staff joined in the laughter and for a few moments, they just enjoyed the joke until Coulson tapered off.

"God, I feel like I'm channeling him. I never act like this," Coulson scoffed at himself, running a hand through his thinning hair. Hill nodded. It was true, Coulson was normally so level headed but most of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents had begun to notice that the level headed agent was acting out more and more with each passing day. Almost as if he missed Clint's antics so much that he was acting like Clint just to deal with the backlash afterwords.

"Listen, I know Fury is ordering you in your room, but why don't you just avoid the paths from the landing bay to Fury's office? Cause you’re right, this does seem really bad. But mind you, if Romanoff sees you, I didn't tell you to walk around," Hill mentioned. Coulson nodded, feeling much more relaxed and a lot better about this whole issue. Avoiding certain paths is much better then being locked up in a room.

"What about me?" the security man asked, praying to god that Hill would give him an out as well.

"I have been channeling Clint a lot today. Why wouldn't I slip out through the vents?" Coulson answered, sounding deadly seriously. Hill and the security team smirked in response. But none of them were completely sure that Coulson was serious. Course when he turned and walked off without another word, the head security member turned to Hill.

"Was he serious?"

\----------

Clint was antsy as he waited outside of the meeting room for Natasha to finish her debriefing. He kept shifting his weight and shuffling his feet. But what was really getting to him was the ringing in his ears. It had worsened since leaving the tower and every now and then there was a sharp pop. Something he wasn't used to unless taking off in a regular commercial plane. Rubbing his ears weren't helping and he had already slipped off someone's pen cover to try and clean his ears as if there was a wax build up. Sadly, the pen cover turned up empty. No matter how much he carefully tried to find some wax, nothing came out.

It wasn't that he was complaining but he tended to use his hearing just as much as his sight. Hearing was valuable when trying to infiltrate an enemy complex. Never mind when he used it to spy, whether on a mission or in the Helicarrier. But the worst was just standing here in the hall. Clint couldn't hear someone walking up toward him and was slightly shocked when a person suddenly seemed to appear right next to him as they walked by. Thankfully, he was trained enough to cover his shock but it was unnerving.

"Clint?" Natasha's soft voice called out into the mostly silent hall. Clint nearly jumped but held it in and instead turned to her in a nonchalant manner. By her confused look, Clint began to wonder how long she had been trying to get his attention. Surprisingly, she shook it off and gave him a soft smile. "Where do you want to start?"

"JARVIS mentioned a room on the fourth level that has it's camera permanently destroyed. He assumed that that might be Coulson's new office or even new room. Sides, when was the last time any of us passed by the fourth level?" Clint answered, his words slurring at a few of the letters. Natasha just figured he was tired still. Clint had been leaning against the wall when she first came out and it looked like he had been drifting off. But again she blew it off, praying that the archer would warn her if he needed rest or even if something was wrong.

"Lets go," Natasha said before stalking off. A few seconds later she realized Clint wasn't following her. Slowly, she turned to look back. He was watching her with a large smile. "What?"

"Just, that's really a testament to how little we go to level four. It's faster this way," Clint stated, nodding his head in the opposite direction of her current path. Natasha frowned and tried to think about it. Then she realized that she wanted to avoid that path. Looking to the floor, she tried to remember the reason. Clint seemed to understand cause he walked up to her and placed a had on her shoulder. She faced him. "It's fine if you don't want to go that way."

"It's just..." Natasha began but stopped.

"The memories," Clint mentioned. Natasha nodded. She had the reason now. That path brought them down the walkway where she knocked Clint's head against the handrails to get Loki out of his head. And then it was as she was getting medical to help him that she heard Fury call that Coulson was dead. Yeah, there was no way she was going down that path. "Come on. I know a different way, will take longer but..."

"Yeah, lets go," Natasha whispered before the two took off. Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed that Clint led her through several different areas around the Helicarrier. Most with happy memories from her time at S.H.I.E.L.D before they finally made it to the area Clint had previously mentioned. No one was there and the door was closed. Natasha looked up to see nearly all the security cameras in the immediate area were either missing or turned off. "They aren't damaged."

"I see that," Clint retorted. Looking toward the camera that was supposed to be stationed right across from the door that JARVIS believed belonged to Coulson. Natasha went a few doors down and looked at one of the cameras that was turned off. There looked to be hot glue or something similar on the power button, making it impossible to ever turn it back on.

"Fury, what are you hiding here?" Natasha muttered to herself. Clint turned to look at Natasha.

"Believe me now?" Natasha focused on him. Her frown was so deep that Clint knew that she didn't. No matter what she said, she couldn't believe that Coulson was alive. She went to speak but Clint held up his hand and shook his head. Natasha watched as seconds after, he seemed to rapidly blink and hold back a moan. Sighing, she waited. "Forget it. Let's just check the room."

"Sure," Natasha numbly called before heading over to the door. While Clint was good at picking the normal locks, like ones on houses, Natasha was good at electronic locks. It was surprising considering the fact that the Red Room had trained Natasha for the easier locks and didn't really delve into the electronic. But S.H.I.E.L.D showed her how to do it once and she picked it up so well that she only needed the one lesson. Clint was still in training. Seconds later, she had the door open and the two entered into a very bland and nearly empty office.

"Okay, not what I expected," Clint whined. Natasha shook her head and turned to look at Clint. He looked... Crushed. Rolling her eyes, she went over to the cleared off desk and began going through the drawers. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for clues," Natasha snorted. All she came up with was a blank paper and a partly chewed up pencil. "Eww."

"Yeah, come on. We aren't going to find anything here," Clint commented. Natasha sighed but followed Clint back out without a fight. Unsure what to do next, the two just began to wander around, hoping for some type of clue.

\----------

"Agent Coulson!" Hill nearly screamed as she walked in a stiff and formally fast fashion. Coulson slowed his own pace but didn't stop to wait for her. Hill shook her head, frowning, rushing forward until she matched Coulson's pace, step for step. "Agent Coulson, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to avoid Natasha and Clint," Coulson growled. Hill nodded, she had been warned that the other two agents were searching the Helicarrier for something. She figured that after their first visit was Coulson's recently cleared out new office, that the two were looking for their missing handler.

"And by randomly storming around the Helicarrier, you think you can avoid them?" Hill asked. Coulson stopped and stared at her. She also stopped and waited, her face showing the mock expectancy in the answer. Coulson opened his mouth to speak and then realized what Hill was getting at. All the air rushed out of him and he deflated a bit.

"Yes," Coulson hesitantly answered. Hill shook her head as a small smile appeared on her lips. Coulson groaned and turned to walk off but Hill grabbed his arm. "I can't hide in a room. Clint is in contact with JARVIS. They've been following me, everywhere I go."

"Well, you could always leave headquarters," Hill suggested. Coulson leveled a look on her. She frowned, not understanding. "What?"

"That would help if Fury hadn't ordered my codes on lock down. Any path leading to the flight bay is locked off. I can't get there," Coulson explained, knowing that Hill should have known that. Hill nodded, not believing that she could have forgotten for even a second.

"Look, I know where we can find a place," Hill began but stopped. Someone was coming down the hall. Coulson stiffened. He could recognize those voices. It was Natasha and Clint.

"Are you sure? You've said that over 100 times now," Natasha complained. Clint scoffed.

"JARVIS said it over 100 times. I've been following him," Clint whined back. Coulson glanced over to Hill. She was staring down the hall that the two voices drifted from.

"Hill? Hiding place?" Coulson softly suggested. Hill looked back at him, her eyes wide in surprise before she nodded.

"Right, my office now," Hill retorted and the two took off. Thankfully they weren't all that far away. Just two rights and a left and they were in the proper hall. Four doors down and Hill got to work on entering her code. She just finished and Coulson slipped inside when Natasha and Clint came barreling around the corner. "What the hell are you two doing, running down the hall like that?"

"Hill!" Natasha called, realizing where they had been running to for the first time. She quickly dropped into a soldier's stance and stopped running. Clint stopped running but his breathing was coming way to fast and he was a bit dizzy from the run, so he kind of slouched over to catch his breath. "Uh."

"Well?" Hill ordered, trying to act as if she had no idea that they had been following her or that their prey was currently hiding in her office. Natasha glanced at Clint to see if he was okay and when he nodded, she looked back to Hill. An embarrassed smile covered her face. But she still wasn't answering. Hill raised her eyebrows and shook her head back and forth, a sign that showed she was demanding an answer.

"Thought we saw someone else coming down here," Clint gasped out as he straightened into a regular stance. Hill frowned, trying her damnedest to not give anything away. But Clint's eyes narrowed at her in contemplation. Something she did was giving the archer some type of clue. But Hill was smart enough to not let it bother her.

"Is there anything I could help you with then?" Hill questioned. Clint and Natasha shook their heads. Natasha's gaze refocused on Hill afterwords, but Clint was now focused on her office door. Hill glanced at the archer, saying nothing. If she waited, he would say something. For a sniper, Clint wasn't all that patient. If he wasn't staring a target down with his bow or a rifle, Clint was normally edgy, bouncy and always in need of constant motion. After another minute of silence, Hill began to question how healthy the archer was. Yeah, she knew he was still recovering from most of his illnesses. But it all should be gone within the week, thanks to the meds he was on. So, as her mind began to remind her of everything she needed to do for the day, she forced herself to break the silence first. Clearing her throat, she regained Clint's attention. "Then if that's all, I have other business to attend to."

"Sure, go ahead," Clint said before turning around to walk off. Natasha nodded her head before following after him. Hill waited for them to round the corner before she opened her door and entered the room. Clint peaked back around a second later. "Kay. She's in her office."

"You really think Hill distracted us?" Natasha whispered as the two snuck back into the hall and past Hill's office. The hall ended with a left hand turn that the two quickly took and froze. This new hall had a bunch of different turns that Coulson could have taken during their talk with Hill. Natasha glanced at Clint. The archer looked flustered. "Well?"

"JARVIS has no update," Clint answered after a quick glance at his phone. Natasha frowned. She couldn't believe that. But then again, she wondered if maybe the tech guys finally knocked JARVIS out of the system. Either way, they had spent most of the entire day on the Helicarrier. And while Clint had been carrying around bottled water as much as possible, Natasha didn't remember him eating outside of breakfast that morning.

"We should probably go. I don't think we'll find him," Natasha muttered. Clint glanced at her.

"Did you even believe we had a shot?" Natasha stiffened at Clint's tone. He sounded, not angry. Almost resigned. She focused her gaze on him and saw that he was beginning to disbelieve his own memory. Not once in their entire time working together had she never believed him until now. Natasha couldn't come up with a good reason as to why she didn't. She just couldn't believe that Coulson was alive and had been hidden from them since the attack. And she could see that her beliefs were causing Clint pain.

"I don't know," Natasha responded. Clint nodded, seemingly giving up, before walking back toward Hill's office. But he stopped and turned back when Natasha spoke. "Where are you going?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I guess..." Clint hesitated. His gaze flickering back toward Hill's hallway. "No, you know what. Forget it."

Natasha watched silently as Clint walked back toward her and just as he was about to pass her, she looked up and froze. Rounding the corner was a familiar face. One she hadn't seen in so long. A face she thought she'd never see again, even with Clint so admittedly believing he was alive. Slowly, she walked forward when the face turned back the way it had come. Unsure of herself, Natasha pretty much baby stepped all the way to the end of the hall. Just as she was about to round the corner to look, Clint spoke.

"Nat? We going?" he asked. Natasha glanced back at Clint. She almost wanted to admit what she had seen but could she really trust her own eyes? Maybe she just wanted to see Coulson because it had been on her mind so much. But then, why did the person go back around the corner? Her gaze shifted back to the other hall. "Nat?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, moving another step forward but still not able to look down the other hall. Clint cleared his throat when she moved and so she turned back to look at him. Her gaze was now questioning. Clint raised an eyebrow.

"You know that's the wrong way, right?" Clint called, his voice soft. Natasha looked back to the other hall for only a second before nodding and walking back over toward Clint. His eyes asking her if she was fine.

"It's nothing, lets go," Natasha answered, walking past him and down the first right. Clint smirked and didn't move. A few seconds later, Natasha reappeared in the hall and walked further down before making a left. "I know where I'm going!"

"Sure you do," Clint laughed before walking off after her. As their voices faded down the hall, the person Natasha saw finally rounded the corner. Coulson looked so relieved that Natasha hadn't seen him. All he could hope was that she'd now convince Clint to stop looking. But as he slowly followed after them, Coulson began to feel really bad. He wanted to see them again. Hell, he wanted Natasha to have seen him. And he certainly wanted Clint to continue trying to find him. He missed them. But as they all arrived at the flight bay (Coulson easily having slipped through the doors as they closed) and Clint and Natasha loaded into a jet, Coulson couldn't help but feel tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is everyone's quarantine going? Mine has actually been rather difficult. I constantly want to write but if it's not people all around talking to me and distracting me then it's me being so stupidly tired that I can't think! If this story had been earlier in the series that I have found myself writing, I probably update more often then a week. But, I can't. Need to make sure I stay ahead.
> 
> Darius has been enjoying tablet time like every day. Best way to keep him quiet and entertained while hubby is busy and I'm trying to write. Feel bad though, I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with him cause I wake up at like seven in the morning and he won't wake up until ten. Then, by like one I need to go nap and I tend to nap till like five, eat dinner and then go to bed for the night. Ugh. Course the one time I did decide I was going to force myself to stay awake at night, Darius very loudly and partially rude called 'You're still here?' Yeah. Wasn't a nice feeling.
> 
> Baby Jason ended up going to the hospital this week due to fever, vomiting, and overall not acting like himself. Ended up that he caught viral meningitis. Partly ironic for me as the story I am posting on Archive is the one where Clint is sick. With meningitis. Hmm... If this keeps happening, I wonder if it's possible for me to travel back in time? Lol.


	8. What Would You Do?

When Natasha and Clint arrived back at the tower, the two were shocked to see Bruce, Steve, Tony and Pepper on the roof waiting for them (Thor had left to visit his girlfriend). Seconds after nearly getting off the Quinjet, Bruce was yelling at Natasha for being 'so stupid'. He was pissed that she let Clint wander around the Helicarrier when he really needed to rest. The doc even mentioned that Clint could become even worse because she wasn't thinking. Natasha took the punishment in stride and said not a single word to defend herself. Clint, whenever he tried to speak up for poor Natasha, was silenced by Steve and an angry glare from Bruce.

Steve didn't do much more then shake his head in disappointment when Natasha looked at him. He didn't need to speak, Bruce was saying everything for all of them. Tony seemed pleased to just sit back and watch. As he was normally the one on the receiving end of these screaming fights, he was thoroughly enjoying watching it happen to someone else. Pepper was the worse on Natasha. The other red head couldn't even look at the spy. Hell, her gaze was only on the assassin when Natasha wasn't looking but then when green eyes turned to her, Pepper would look away.

It took over four minutes of Bruce yelling at Natasha before Clint snapped. He was sick and tired of hearing that it was Natasha's fault that he was walking around. That he didn't eat food. And that she should have known better. He was a grown man and even if Natasha tried to force him to do something he didn't want to do, he wouldn't do it.

"SHUT UP!" Clint screamed over Bruce. The doc froze for only a second before rounding onto Clint. His rage was now so intense that his eyes were beginning to glow green.

"Oh! What? This was all your idea?" Bruce snapped, taking a step forward onto the ramp way of the Quinjet. Clint growled and stepped closer to Bruce, ignoring the threat of Hulk coming out.

"I asked Natasha for help. Yeah, we got a bit distracted so we didn't eat. Not like I haven't done that before when I was sick. I know what my body can and cannot handle!" Clint retorted. Bruce laughed.

"Yeah and that's why you passed out on a mission!" the doc shouted. Clint ground his teeth in anger but Bruce beat him to the punch. "Do you even realize how close to dying you came? Medical actually said they almost had to de-fib you! And when we arrived on the Helicarrier, you were hooked up to so many lines that I didn't even know what half of them were for!"

"Bruce," Natasha softly called, almost sounding like she was pleading.

"No, I won't keep silent any more. He deserves to know that he almost died! He deserves to know that when we walked into Medical, the doc on duty was giving him CPR! I'm sick of him thinking he's invincible!" Bruce cried. Clint stilled as he listened and when he felt everyone's gaze on him, he swallowed some saliva, sighed and focused on Bruce.

"I know I'm not invincible. I know I'm the only fucking true human on this team. Why the fuck do you think I work so hard? Why the fuck do you think I hid the fact that I was feeling sick? I didn't want you guys to know! Yeah, I may have let it get too far. I see that now. But what the fuck did you expect me to do? It was a mission. And nearly every time I used to mention I was sick at Carson's, I was told to suck it up and perform or not get paid," Clint began. His voice was low and dangerous now. "I don't want to be kicked off this team. Hell, I'm half afraid that if I am then the Council will fucking throw me in jail! Do any of you realize that this is basically my last option? That if this fails, then I'm screwed? I'm trying my fucking hardest to not seem like a god damned liability here! And yet... You know what, fuck it. I'll just go fucking pack up now."

With that, Clint stormed off. He made it threw the door and four steps down the stairs before the dizziness hit him hard. All that adrenaline was released in one big breath and now he was tired and was having a hard time staying up. His right arm reached out for the handrail that he knew was there but when it meet nothing but air, Clint's mind blanked on what to do next. Behind him he distantly heard someone open the door, but he was dropping now.

Pepper, who had been listening to the Avengers argue about whose fault it was that Clint felt the way he felt, had finally gotten sick of them not going after the sick archer and decided to go check on him. She left the group still fighting on the roof and opened the door and looked down the stairs, having planned on seeing Clint safely at the bottom. Instead, she saw him four steps down, in the middle of the staircase, his hand just missing the handrail beside him and then him pitching forward and slightly toward the metal railing. All she could do was widen her eyes in shock and gasp as Clint's solid head connected with the railing with a loud crack.

"CLINT!"

Thankfully Pepper's voice echoed through the stairwell and back out onto the roof. And it was also loud enough for the group to overhear. Freezing for half a second, everyone looked at each other before rushing toward the door. Bruce made it there first and slipped through to see Pepper cradling Clint at the end of the stairs. His head was bleeding and he was unconscious. Bruce moaned, knowing that the fight earlier was what had made him weak enough to fall.

"He hit his head!" Pepper whined as she rocked Clint back and forth like a baby. She was crying, hard. Bruce rushed down the stairs as Tony and Steve slipped in. Steve froze, still holding the door open while Tony made it down two steps before understanding what happened and cursing. Natasha came in next.

"Clint!" she gasped out before rushing down the stairs after the doc. He had just about reached Pepper and Clint when he knew that he had to get Clint to a hospital or S.H.I.E.L.D medical. "What happened?"

"I just saw him reaching for the handrail and missing and then he fell. His head hit the railing and then he tumbled down the stairs!" Pepper answered, fearing for the worse. Bruce grabbed both sides of her face and held her head still as she focused her gaze on him.

"I need you to calm down before you hyperventilate. Clint will be fine," Bruce told her. Pepper nodded to the best of her ability and once she was calm, Bruce let go of her. "What stair was he on when he fell?"

"The fourth from the top," she dutifully stated. Bruce cursed at that and then looked back up the stairs to see Steve still frozen.

"Steve! I need you!" Bruce called. Steve shook out of his shock and headed down the stairs so fast that he almost tripped and added to the damage down at the bottom. When he reached Bruce's side, Bruce focused on Tony before looking back at Steve. "Tony, don't let that Quinjet leave! Steve, we need to get him back upstairs!"

"Right!" both men answered at the same time. Tony spun back out to the roof, shouting on his way. Steve shifted to get closer to Clint as Pepper relaxed her grip on him. Natasha moved out of the way completely and stood against the far wall as she watched the Captain lift the archer up off the ground. In his unconscious state, Clint couldn't hold up parts of himself and so his body just kind of dead flopped in the super soldier's hands. It made Pepper and Natasha gasp as they tried not to cry. Even Bruce and Steve cringed at the sight.

"Lets get him upstairs and on that Quinjet," Bruce ordered. Steve nodded and soon the four were off. Outside on the roof, Tony was standing on the Quinjet's lowered back. He looked nervous as hell up until he saw the way that Clint's body was slumped around in Steve's arms. The billionaire then went pale. "Tony, get the med area set up!"

"What?" Tony responded before shaking his head and spinning to try and find the small medical area on the jet. As he set it up, Natasha jogged past everyone to head up to the pilot's seat. The two exchanged a few words before the pilot was calling the situation into the Helicarrier. In a matter of a few minutes, Clint was hooked into the medical table. Bruce was working on getting a few odds and ends that he thought could help the injured archer. Steve was sitting in the nearest seat to the two in case he could be of any help. Natasha was sitting just behind the pilot's seat so she could issue any other news and Tony and Pepper were curled up into two seats in the middle of the jet. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know right now," Bruce snapped. "I'm such an idiot! I should have known that getting him into a fight would mess him up!"

"Bruce," Steve warned as he watched the doc tightly gripping some bandages.

"Why the hell would I have fought him? Why did I have to rile him up?" Bruce cursed at himself. Everyone (but Clint) jumped when the doc slammed his hands down on the medical table, just missing Clint's arm. Bruce paused as he tried to simply breath and calm down.

"Bruce, why don't you sit down for a second," Steve softly ordered. Bruce looked to him in surprise before slowly nodding and walking away from Clint. Steve then unbuckled and began to work on wrapping Clint's forehead with the now crushed bandages. It took almost ten minutes before the Quinjet made it to the Helicarrier. Once it landed and the doors were lowered, the jet was filled with Medical staff. Five minutes later, the remaining Avengers were running after the staff as they wheeled the archer away from them. But once in medical, the doors got slammed in their faces when the archer headed to ICU. As the group tried to get over the fact that they were locked out, Hill and Fury rounded the corner.

"What the fuck just happened? I thought you were watching him!" Fury snapped when he saw the lost group. Pepper's makeup was running down her face and stained Tony's white shirt. Tony was still rather pale and seemed to be lost in thought. Bruce was still working on reigning in his temper and so when he heard the Director's voice, he turned and walked off so he wouldn't change there. Steve's eyes narrowed at the words and spun to face Fury but it was Natasha who spoke first.

"He got a little riled up and fell down some stairs," she growled. Fury rolled his eyes.

"Who the hell riled him up?" Fury demanded.

"Bruce... Us..." Natasha said, unsure of the proper answer. Fury frowned and that was when Steve calmed down enough to answer.

"Barton mentioned that he was afraid of getting kicked off the team. He also said that if he was, he'd get thrown in jail. I guess all that emotion and anger that he felt hit a high point and an entire day with no rest, plus still being sick, he dropped," Steve explained. Fury groaned though it sounded more like a growl.

"I really had hoped that he wouldn't know what the Council had planned," Fury muttered so softly that most of them almost missed it. Hill's eyes widened in shock at the admittance. She hadn't expected that Clint was still in that deep of shit. No one had informed her. While she may not like Clint that much, even she knew the archer wasn’t to blame for his actions while with Loki. Pepper gasped in shock, having hoped that Clint was just fearing the worst. Natasha seemed to close in on herself as she processed what the Director said. Steve went slack jawed, unsure how to answer to that. But Tony had that part covered.

"Are you fucking kidding me? After everything he's done, they'd throw him away just like that?" Tony snapped. Fury glanced at the billionaire and winced at the heat in the genius's eyes. "I see what Barton does on a daily basis. There is no god-damned good reason to throw him in jail! They cleared him from the actions under Loki's control!"

"Barton has always been on the Council's shit list. But, it had never been anything more then just shitty assignments," Hill pointed out, unable to stop herself from adding her two cents. Tony growled as Fury nodded in agreement with Hill. It was true, since Clint had gotten hired by S.H.I.E.L.D, the Council hated him. Not many knew the reason why. Hell, Clint didn't even know why. But Fury, Coulson and (to a smaller degree) Hill did. The Council hated that ex-Director Peggy Carter had been the main force of getting Clint recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. If she hadn’t got involved, Clint would long be dead.

"Barton may have been cleared for the Loki incident but there are many other times that he... Fucked up. The Council figures that since they’re already hiring new people, they might as well clean house. And one of those people that they want to get rid of has always been Barton. Already I've found planted evidence that tried to show Barton stealing and selling S.H.I.E.L.D secrets," Fury explained.

"Barton would never do that! He's loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. Hell, I don't think I've even heard him say a negative word about S.H.I.E.L.D. The Council though... There's been a lot about them," Tony mentioned. Fury nodded. He figured that had been the case.

"What can we do to help Barton?" Steve asked. Fury sighed.

"Make this whole Avengers team work," Fury stated as if the group had been doing a bad job so far. Tony and Steve frowned. They had thought things were going rather well. Natasha shook her head, knowing that what the Council wanted was something the Avengers could never provide. Bruce returned to the group in time to hear what Fury said and groaned.

"As I said before, we're not a team. We're a time bomb," Bruce growled. Fury nodded.

"I thought the team was working great," Pepper mentioned but when Hill and Fury gave her a look that questioned her opinion, she relented. "I mean, yeah there still is a lot of property damage when they fight. But no more then when the X-Men or Fantastic Four fight."

"The Council has no evidence of any employee at any attack. That way S.H.I.E.L.D can stay secret," Natasha answered for Fury and Hill.

"That's impossible with Hulk on the team," Tony snarled, forgetting that Bruce was standing right next to him.

"Oh yeah, and the Iron Man repulser blasts are so much better," Bruce snorted. Tony nearly jumped at the other scientist's voice.

"Not what I meant," Tony whined. And when he went to continue speaking, Bruce held up his hand and shook his head. He didn't want to discuss it any further. Hell, Bruce had been waiting for the time when someone said Hulk wasn't welcome. He guessed that now was the time and mentally he cursed himself for relaxing into the group. Actually no, he cursed the fact that they made him their doctor. He had assumed that as the Avenger's doc that he was safe, even if Hulk wasn't needed. Apparently, he thought wrong.

"Yeah, we're a wonderful example of teamwork," Natasha sarcastically stated after that. Tony looked slightly embarrassed for a moment as he looked down to the floor. Steve focused on the wall across from him as he tried to figure out where he went wrong. Bruce shook his head, having known from the beginning that this would never work out and so it wasn't a surprise. Pepper moaned, fearing the worst for these people she was beginning to consider her friends.

"Anyways, keep me updated on Barton's status. And think about what it takes to be a team. Barton isn't the only one who'd have issues if the Avengers disband," Fury told the group before nodding and walking off. Hill sighed as she watched the Avengers seemingly sulk in the hall before she gave in.

"I'd start by telling Thor about what happened to Barton," she said before she also turned and left. The Avengers looked at each other. In their anger at Clint walking around the Helicarrier all day and then the excitement of seeing the archer injured at the bottom of the stairs, they had forgotten about the god. Natasha, who hadn't been in the tower when Thor left, glanced over at Steve.

"Where is Thor?" she asked.

"He went to visit his woman... What's her name?" Tony answered.

"Jane, I think," Steve responded and then hung his head even lower. "I should know that. He says her name so much."

"We really aren't a good team are we?" Tony softly laughed as he looked to the ceiling. "Hell, I can't even remember her name. Never mind if we need to get a hold of Point Break. I doubt any of us know where this woman lives."

"New Mexico," Pepper softly called. The Avengers looked at her in surprise. "I talk to him a lot about her. Her name is Jane Foster. She's an astrophysicist."

"How do you know that but I don't?" Tony whined. Pepper tilted her head and gave the billionaire an incredulous look.

"What's your social?" she retorted. Tony narrowed his eyes.

"5," Tony quickly responded. Pepper, Steve, Natasha and Bruce all rolled their eyes.

"I think you're missing a few numbers there," Steve smartly pointed out. Tony smiled.

"Right, the other eight. I'll learn them one day," he swore even though everyone knew he never would. "So, whose gonna call Thor?"

"Actually, I think it might be best if he doesn't know right now," Natasha stated. She shrugged when everyone gave her a curious look. "I know Thor doesn't get to see Jane all that much and there isn't much he could do here. And you know he'd want to wait by Clint's side. We'll let him know later. If there are any problems."

"Sounds good to me," Tony said as he looked to Bruce and Steve. The two men nodded. It did sound good. Thor needed time with Jane just as much as he needed to hang with the Avengers. "So what now?"

"How can we work better as a team?" Natasha inquired, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Tell us what Fury meant by all of us being in trouble if we disband," Steve commented, sounding almost hurt and upset. Natasha sighed. While she hadn’t known what would have happened with Clint, she did know about the others.

"Hill has mentioned that she'd restart the super solider program," Natasha began but Steve scoffed in surprise and turned to walk away. Tony even snorted.

"What the hell does Hill have to do with us disbanding?" Bruce asked. Natasha sighed.

"If the Avengers disband, Fury will be demoted and Hill is next in line for the position. She's already promised the Council the restarting of the super solider program, with or without your permission, Steve. Fury's also been holding Hammer in jail and has been keeping Ross on a tight leash. The Council has been wanting Thor locked up since New Mexico. Every time he's on Earth, they try to find some reason to hid him away forever. And we already know that Clint is going to get put in jail," Natasha explained. When she paused, she looked to the others. They were staring at her, slack jawed.

"What about you?" Pepper meekly questioned.

"I've been told before that I'm one mission failure away from being called a traitor to S.H.I.E.L.D. Luckily my record at S.H.I.E.L.D has always been immaculate. Yeah, I've had some mess ups, but I have always gotten the target in the end. They've been waiting for the one time that I don't and they'd be able say that I did it intentionally," Natasha muttered.

"So, we're riding thin ice? When was Fury going to tell us this? Oh wait, this is fucking Fury! He'd never have told us!" Tony cried as he began pacing the small hall. Natasha's eyes flashed in anger.

"And do you see why he wouldn't? Now that you know, are you glad? Or are you worried more then ever?" Natasha pointed out. Tony paused. She made a good point. He was now freaking out a little and he was the one the Council didn’t care about. Fuck Hammer. He’d be easy to deal with. "Look. Fury keeps his secrets cause he thinks it'd help. In some way, he's trying to be nice. That's why he keeps those secrets."

"So potentially, if he believed that keeping Coulson's life a secret, he'd let us continue to believe that he'd dead?" Bruce mentioned, beginning to feel like an idiot for telling Clint that he was seeing things. It made sense now that Fury would hide Coulson away from them.

"Why would he hide that from us?" Steve asked, surprised that that was back on the idea board.

"Why not? I've already mentioned that I don't trust Fury as far as I can throw him. Hell, as far as Hulk can throw him. Doesn't surprise me in the least that Fury would think that I'd try to leave the Avengers after that," Tony mumbled. Steve frowned. Pepper shook her head, having been listening to Tony complaining about the Director for nearly every day since the Avengers formed. Bruce groaned and removed his glasses to rub his nose, where the rims settled. Natasha sighed. Then Tony laughed. "Hell, a month ago or so, I'd say that I'd leave S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm already not officially an Avenger... Wasn't 'approved' for the initiative. But I'd ask if you guys would come with me."

"I'd go. Never wanted to be part of S.H.I.E.L.D in the first place. The other guy and I don't normally agree with military personal," Bruce commented. Natasha nodded, having made the same mention to Fury in the past. "Sides, I don't even think I was looked into."

"I woke up only a week before Manhattan. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D are all I know right now," Steve mentioned. He then sighed. "I would have probably left with you guys as well."

The hall went silent. Then slowly the men looked to Natasha. She gave a laughing sigh before looking away.

"I'm not approved for the Avengers either. Fury has only been allowing me to stay with you guys because of Clint. We've both felt that if I left, Clint would as well. So I've stayed," Natasha explained without any prodding. When she saw the faces of the others, she frowned. "I'm a spy and an assassin. Not a superhero. Never wanted to be a superhero. All I want to do is clean up my ledger before I die. I don't need the Avengers. Never have."

"So, why?" Steve whispered. Natasha shrugged.

"I was pissed off at Loki. Coulson was dead. Clint was fucked up and... I felt like he wouldn't have fought unless I did as well. I just... Just needed to get one punch into Loki to feel better," Natasha described before moving down the hall to sit down. She was almost done with sharing time. But then she remembered the face she had seen earlier. Thinking about what Bruce said and she had pointed out, she began to really rethink the whole thing. First though, she needed to know. "If Coulson is alive and Clint had actually seen him. What would you all do? Would you stay with S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"Yes," Tony quickly answered. Everyone's gaze snapped onto him in shock. He shrugged. "I get it now. Knowing why Fury kept it secret, changes the meaning of the secret. The old bat was worried for us. That... Oh fuck... I don't think I really had anyone care that much for me outside of Pepper and maybe Rhodey."

"We care about you," Steve told the billionaire very softly. Tony gave him a meek smile.

"I get that now. Look, I know I don't trust well. The last person I trusted outside of Peps, Rhodey, and Happy was Obadiah. And that got the Arc Reactor ripped out of my chest and then a huge fight on Stark Industries property. Ever since then... I just don't want to trust anyone. But then the Avengers came along and it's... It's so hard not to trust you guys," Tony moaned. Pepper smiled and reached forward, giving the genius a hug. He slipped into it and relaxed, trying so hard to not show the full amount of emotion that he felt. Natasha smirked as she looked away, feeling better about retracting her dismissal of Tony. Steve gave the pair a soft smile as he tried to think what would he do.

"I'd stay too. That is, if you guys would have me," Bruce said, changing the topic before Tony could cry. Tony laughed, sounding almost eerily similar to a sob as he backed out of Pepper's arms.

"Of course we'd have you! You and the big guy!" Tony called. Bruce smiled, feeling much safer in his position with the Avengers.

"I'd stay," Steve answered next. Tony, Bruce and Pepper smiled at him. Natasha lightly laughed as she focused on the ground. "You guys are more then just my teammates. You're my friends."

"Thanks, Cap," Tony responded, not at all sounding like he was mocking the Captain. Steve laughed at that. Again the hall went silent. Slowly, they looked to Natasha. "Well, spidey?"

"Coulson... Coulson was my handler... No, he was more then that. He was a friend. If... If he wants me to stay, then I'd stay," Natasha retorted. The others deflated a bit. "Look, I honestly can't say what I'd do. I want to say that I'd stay but... I have no idea. And honestly... I think I saw Coulson earlier as well."

"WHAT!?" four voices intermingled in a shout. Natasha winced. She had expected them to react badly, but this was a bit much. Soon the four were talking over each other asking the assassin questions about why she kept it secret, when it was, where it was, and so on.

"Guys!" Natasha shouted back at them. Slowly their voices diminished. Once the hall was silent again, Natasha spoke. "When was I gonna be able to tell you? I came back to the tower to you guys screaming at me, then Clint passed out, and then we dealt with Fury. I didn't mean to keep it secret. Hell, originally I thought I was going out of my mind. It wasn't until we were talking about Fury keeping secrets that I really began to think about it."

"But, he wouldn't do that. Would he?" Pepper questioned.

"Wouldn't put it past him. He kept it secret that the Tesseract was originally being researched on to power weapons. Why wouldn't he keep it secret that Coulson is actually alive?" Tony snorted. He cursed and then punched the nearest wall. "I should have fucking realized!"

"Look, we all didn't believe Clint. It's not just one of our faults," Steve pointed out. Tony muttered something indiscernible then. Steve frowned. "What was that?"

"JARVIS kept on trying to show me videos but I kept putting them off and when I'd go to look, he'd tell me the file was deleted. He was trying to show me that Clint wasn't lying," Tony groaned. Natasha sighed.

"When we were going around the Helicarrier, JARVIS was directing Clint where to go," Natasha mentioned. Everyone sighed.

"So, should we go look for him or something?" Bruce softly considered. Tony deflated a bit as he thought about it. Natasha shook her head. Steve frowned, seriously debating it. Pepper moaned as she looked toward the doors that Clint vanished through minutes before. Just as her eyes focused on the doors and she realized that it had been a good while since they heard anything, the doors opened and a nurse walked out.

"Are you guys waiting for Barton?" she asked the group. Everyone was on their feet in an instant. Natasha nodded while Bruce answered 'yes'. Tony was sarcastic with his answer of 'of course, we're the Avengers'. Steve gave her a soft smile and Pepper hummed in agreement.

"How is he?" Steve finally cut in before Tony could keep going. The nurse eyed the whole group before nodding.

"He hit his head hard enough to get a mild concussion. He'll have a huge bruise on his forehead for a while. The flu is mostly out of his system, along with the strep throat. His meningitis will be gone within a few days. Other then that, he's right as rain. The doctor was surprised to see there wasn't more damage from falling down the stairs but he guesses that the initial hit on his head knocked him out so he didn't tense. Agent Barton is very lucky. This could have been a lot worse," the nurse informed them. Feeling rather chastised, the group nodded.

"When can we see him?" Pepper inquired for the group after a moment of silence. The nurse waved her hand behind her, a sign that they were all welcome. Giving her a soft smile, Pepper lead the way with Steve and Tony directly behind her. But Natasha and Bruce hung back slightly, both feeling guilty enough to wonder if Clint would even want to see them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is everyone's quarantine going? Mine is going _great_! Just found out my cruise got canceled. At least I can get the money in full back. Not that we weren't going to cancel it in the first place, lol. Currently sitting here with noise canceling headphones cause I'm getting _far_ too distracted by everyone being home. It's killing me.
> 
> Darius is doing good. Still loves everyone being home. Getting upset with me though cause I keep going to bed at like seven. But that's cause I get up at like six or seven in the morning while he won't get up till around noon. If he wants more time with me, he should wake up earlier, lol. He's also been on this extreme Ghostbusters kick. Apparently we have like fifty ghosts in the house. An hour. *sigh* At least he has been having fun.


	9. Really?  Now?

At first, Pepper believed that she was going to be wandering around the med bay forever trying to find Clint. But a male nurse happened to see them and recognized who they were and offered his help. Accepting, they followed him straight to Clint's room. When they got to the door, he held them back to check in. Everyone was thankful when he did cause the doc was standing over Clint's bed checking vitals. After a short conversation, in which Bruce and Natasha caught up to the others, between the doc and the nurse, the two headed to the hall.

"My name is Dr. Ames," the doc introduced himself to the group. Everyone nodded in greeting. "Agent Barton is going to be out for a while longer. I sedated him when he first arrived, as his medical sheet indicates."

"Why does his medical sheet indicates that he should be sedated?" Steve incredulously called. Ames sighed while Tony snorted in humor. Bruce gave a soft smile, remembering how much easier it would be to deal with Clint if he was sedated. Natasha placed a hand over her mouth to cover her smile and snicker. Pepper shook her head and nudged Tony in his ribs to get him to stop laughing.

"He's always medicated to some degree so that he doesn't try to run away before full treatment is given. Normally... Coulson or I drug him," Natasha admitted, hesitating before saying Coulson. Tony's soft snorting quickly turned to full blown laughing now and Pepper's continuous prodding couldn't stop him. But Natasha sighed, covering her own humor at the suggestion. Clint had a good reason. "Clint doesn't like doctors... His father was abusive and he beat Clint, his mother and his older brother. No matter how many times Clint was brought in, no one reported the signs of abuse. They just let it continue on. I think there was also rumor that his father was friends with the Sheriff."

"Clint has an older brother?" Tony asked, having stopped laughing almost as soon as Natasha mentioned abuse. Everyone gave him a surprised look. "What?"

"Out of all that, you only got that he has a brother?" Bruce questioned him. Tony shrugged.

"I knew about the whole parents thing. Clint mentioned that his dad was a dead beat drunkard. I'm not that socially stupid. I know what that tends to mean," Tony growled, feeling insulted that everyone thought him rather oblivious. "My dad wasn't all that great either."

"Well, if you'll excuse me. I have some other patients I must attend to. Please, if he does awaken, don't let him leave just yet. I still want to check and make sure the concussion isn't all that bad. But I do have high hopes that he'll be leaving before the day is out," Ames said before moving to walk away but Bruce stopped him by clearing his throat.

"You don't want to watch him overnight?" the scientist muttered. Ames shrugged.

"Why bother when I know that you could do it and I'd get my bed back?" he countered. Bruce's mouth dropped opened but nothing came out. There was no response to that. While Ames had a good point, Bruce hadn’t expected the other doctor to be so dismissive. And, admittedly Clint wouldn't want to stay and so he'd annoy the staff and Bruce, with JARVIS’s help, could easily watch for signs of further brain damage. Sighing deeply, Bruce nodded.

"I see your point. Is there anything specific we should look for now?" Ames shook his head no.

"Basically, just let a nurse or myself know when it looks like he's waking. But I don't see that happening for another few hours," Ames explained. Bruce nodded and as the other doc walked away, the group entered Clint's room. Natasha quickly grabbed the first plastic chair she could find and pulled it up alongside Clint's bed. Steve went to the furthest corner and leaned against the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest. Bruce went to the end of Clint's bed to grab his medical sheets before Tony could. Ninety percent of it was blacked out but all the injuries the archer ever got wasn't. Tony, now that he couldn't get some reading material, chose one of the remaining two plastic chairs to sit in while Pepper chose the other.

"Well?" Steve called when Bruce sighed and put down the sheets. The doc looked back to the Captain.

"Not much to say. Ames did a good job but," Bruce hesitated and looked back to the sheets. He sighed once again when everyone seemed to give him a prodding look. "I was re-looking over the meds we used to help his meningitis. We gave him an ototoxic."

"An ototoxic! Oh my god! What the hell is an ototoxic?" Tony sarcastically joked but there was an underlying curiosity. Bruce frowned as he looked over at Tony. "Hey, I'm a friggin genius and I don't know what the fuck that is."

"An ototoxic is a type of drug that we can give to help cure certain issues. This particular one helps with meningitis but has been known to cause temporary hearing loss," Bruce explained.

"Um. Doesn't meningitis also sometimes cause hearing loss?" Tony countered. Bruce nodded. "Hmm. What would we do if bird brain becomes hearing impaired?"

"Clint's a sniper. You don't really need hearing for that. Right?" Pepper pointed out but then hesitated as she really thought about it. Natasha sighed and looked toward Clint, feeling worried more then before. Steve shifted as he remembered his own hearing loss and all the soldiers that had to be discharged for hearing loss. Hell, he had helped someone keep it a secret once before cause the guy had nothing to go home too. Then he frowned, hiding his face to think about it. Could this be the day? Bruce gave Pepper a light hearted smile.

"Sadly, yes. Your hearing center also controls your balance. Never mind that he works on a team and would need to hear if one of us is calling for help. Imagine us out on a mission and Hulk appeared behind Clint. If he couldn't hear the other guy coming up behind him, he could get crushed or killed," Bruce mentioned. Pepper frowned, almost feeling bad for the archer.

"Clint is also a spy and assassin. If he can't hear an opponent sneaking up behind him, it could get him killed," Natasha added.

"Well, lets pray that he didn't lose his hearing," Pepper commented. Everyone nodded. Silence filled the room for a few minutes before Tony snorted. Slowly the attention was focused on him. He looked up, feeling the gazes and smiled.

"I could always build a little tazer thing that's attached to JARVIS that can warn him if someone is coming. It'd just be a little zap in the area that the person is coming," Tony jokingly said as seriously as he could. Bruce shook his head no. Steve smiled but also shook his head. Pepper giggled lightly but her expression told the genius that it was also a no. And Natasha snorted.

"Yeah, I don't think that'd be the best option," Natasha responded, her voice sounding light. Tony smirked. He figured, but he at least had lightened the mood in the room.

"We'd have to see how bad his hearing is before anyways. It might not be that bad and it may only last a few days," Bruce muttered, sounding like that's what he was hoping for if things did turn for the worse.

"And if it doesn't?" Steve asked, his voice pained, wondering how best they could all help Clint when, oops, if the time came that it happened. No one looked to him. They could hear in the super soldier's voice that the Council would likely force Fury and Steve to drop Clint if the archer was deaf but Steve didn't want to. He would fight to keep Clint on the team, no matter what.

"I guess we'll get to that when the time comes," Tony nearly growled. He really didn't like the idea of losing Clint. The archer had become a good friend of his, even if Clint didn't believe it. Tony couldn't imagine a day without cracking jokes with the archer or even planning a few small pranks. Steve sighed, eyes downcast as he tried not to hug himself. How was he going to handle all of this?

"Well, going back to an old topic. What do you guys think about Coulson? Could he actually be alive and on the Helicarrier right now?" Pepper inquired, wanting to change the subject off of Clint as soon as possible. She was worried for the archer and sitting there talking about the worse just made her feel bad.

"You know, I think we should bring that up with Fury," Tony suggested, sounding seriously mad. The others all looked at each other before looking at Tony. "What? I mean, yeah, he'll probably lie but if we're all there then one of us can catch him, right?"

"Or, we could bring it up and Fury will move Coulson to another station," Natasha pointed out. Tony frowned.

"He wouldn't do that."

"He would," called a voice that none of them had heard in a long time. As one, they all spun to face the doorway. Pepper gasped and raised her hands to cover her mouth as tears sprung to her eyes. Steve jumped into a soldier's stance but his face told of how much shock he was in. Bruce looked like he was about to collapse from a heart attack or something. Natasha was stunned and had her mouth slightly opened as if she was going to say something but no words would come. Tony blinked rapidly, wondering if he was drunk though he didn't remember drinking. He recovered first.

"Agent?" he weakly asked. Coulson smiled to Tony. Their little in-joke because Coulson had always introduced himself as Agent Coulson and never Phil. Well, that was until Pepper had asked.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," Coulson responded, not paying attention to the correct person in the room. His gaze moved from Tony, to Pepper, to Bruce and then to Steve. A mistake that his face would regret.

_SMACK_

"OW!" Coulson cried as he grabbed at his face and stepped back a little bit. Natasha stood before him, her right hand down by her waist but the agent could see the slightly reddened skin. "Natasha?"

"No! No, you do not get to call me that!" Natasha snapped at him. Coulson sputtered for a minute until he noticed the tears forming in her green orbs. Then all he could do was focus on her eyes. She was crying? For him? "Why?"

"Why what?" Coulson countered, still a little thrown from the slap to his cheek. Natasha groaned before turning away and walking back to Clint. That was when Coulson realized what she wanted. "I was in a medically induced coma for about a week and a half. Then it took about another week for me to officially wake. After that, I was in physical therapy for over two months. By the time I was deemed fit for duty, Fury said that you guys were just starting to get over my death."

_SMACK_

"Damn-it!" Coulson cursed as he grabbed for his cheek again. This time the angry red head before him was Pepper. And she was definitely crying. Coulson's guilty look doing nothing to calm her.

"You are all so stupid! What the hell makes any of you think we were over it?" Pepper nearly shouted at the agent. Coulson sputtered as he tried to come up with any type of excuse or reason but his mind was shutting down.

"Getting over your death? We're barely maintaining a sense of normality," Bruce snorted in a dark sense of humor. He turned away from Coulson as he looked down at Clint. Though he didn't have as long an experience with Coulson, he still missed the agent after the incident. Natasha turned back to Coulson and snapped her left hand to point down at Clint, asleep in the bed.

"Does this look like we're getting over it? Clint went on a mission sick! Why? Cause you weren't there to see that he was sick! He nearly died!" Natasha screamed. Coulson winced as he watched all of the people in the room glaring at him. Well, all but Clint who was beginning to stir far to early thanks to the noise and tension.

"I know," Coulson admitted, looking down to the ground. That made everyone pause.

"You know? You know what?" Natasha snarled. Coulson took a deep breath.

"Fury keeps me updated on how you guys are. I... Well, I visited when Clint was first in medical," Coulson said. Steve stormed forward now, both his hands clenched into fists. Coulson winced, knowing this was going to hurt but nothing happened. Slowly his gaze went up to face Steve. Steve was shaking in anger but kept his fists by his side.

"Get out," Steve softly ordered the other man. Coulson's eyes widened in shock. The room froze as everyone wondered what Steve was doing.

"What?" Coulson nearly squeaked at his hero. Steve's eyes narrowed.

"Get out of here. All you're doing in causing a huge fraction right now. I want you to leave. Not for good. Just for now," Steve nearly demanded, stumbling as he began to realize that he was ordering the agent, that everyone had wanted to see, away. Coulson stuttered again as he tried to figure out how this whole thing went wrong. He had figured that they all wanted him back. But now, as he looked from face to face, he saw that they were all silently agreeing with Steve's demand.

"Are you all sure?" Coulson whispered, trying to focus on everyone. Natasha looked away first. Her green eyes dropping down to Clint. Bruce was next. He sighed and looked to the ceiling which showed a small glint in the corner of his eyes. Pepper turned away completely. She walked towards the back of the room and a soft sob began to echo into the room. Tony was after her, but he sent Coulson an angry glare before turning to see to his girlfriend. Steve... Well, Steve never looked away. His eyes just hardened in determination. Coulson gulped.

"I think this might be for the best right now. Try again when Clint is feeling better," Steve suggested, his voice sounding much softer and guiltier then before. Coulson nodded, his eyes dropping to the ground. But as he turned, Coulson realized that they had joined together as a team. Fury was right in a small degree. They weren't the individuals that Coulson wanted to bring together. They had formed to the Avengers. Slowly walking away, Coulson tried hard to focus on that good thought and not the feeling of being abandoned by the people he thought had really wanted him back. But at the door, he paused.

"Coulson?" a weakened voice asked. Coulson spun around, recognizing the voice even if it sounded slurred and drugged. Natasha had stepped away from the bed, her hand covering her mouth in shock. Pepper and Tony were now facing the bed with a surprised look. Bruce was even focused on the person lying there because he knew how hard it must have been for Clint to wake himself up, never mind speak. Steve had hesitated for a second before he also had turned to look. His eyes widened as he realized that it was indeed Clint who had spoken.

Coulson smiled lightly when Clint's eyes focused on him. Slowly he walked deeper into the room. But Clint's eyes, while watching him, were widening in horror. Coulson could only assume it was because he realized he was in medical. Preparing to calm his once asset down, Coulson moved until he was standing by Steve but by then, Clint was looking towards the others in the room.

"Steve, go get a nurse," Bruce called softly when Clint's eyes gazed onto his face. But when he saw Clint's horror grow even more, the doc knew what was wrong. His face fell. Unknown to the doc, Steve nodded and took off toward the hall. He didn't make it because Clint cried out with a miserable wail. Everyone winced. Clint's eyes focused back on Coulson, almost as if he was trying to make sure the agent was real.

"Clint? Are you okay?" Coulson asked, trying to leave the hint of worry and fear out of his voice. Natasha picked up on it and jerked to a more tense stance as she prepared to catch Clint in case he ran for it. Clint didn't respond. He just slowly lifted his right hand to his ear and felt it, as if he feared it had been blown off.

"Clint?" Natasha inquired after placing her hand lightly on his left arm. Everyone watched as he physically jumped at her touch. He quickly looked to her and she could see Clint's eyes were in a full blown panic now and it horrified Natasha to her core. But it wasn't as bad as what he declared next.

"I can't hear!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuck at home... Stuck here trying to focus. Amazingly I am getting work done. Jumping between stories, both original and fanfiction but hey, whatever. I'm writing something.
> 
> Darius has been a bit of a pain in the butt. He loves arguing with us and pretty much laughs until we prove how mad and disappointed we are with him. House is a mess cause we have all decided that it's a bit pointless right now. I wish we could clean it a bit more, like unboxing stuff still but all we ever seem to do is move things from one room to another and make a mess in that second room. So aggravating. Maybe one day we'll finish unpacking and dealing with everything.


	10. Can't Hear

"I can't hear! Why can't I hear?" Clint cried, jerking himself up into a seated position. Bruce was on him in a second, wanting to make sure the archer stayed in the bed. Natasha also shifted to make sure the other side wasn't as big of an escape route. But Clint's panicked gaze, as he looked around at everyone, pretty much said that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Oh god!" Pepper called, her hand flying to her mouth as she held back more tears in the horror of the news. Clint's breathing rate increased, indicating he was going into a panic attack. Adrenalin was flooding his system as he looked around at all of his team mates and friends. Tony froze as he realized that the worst possible situation that could have happened, had just happened. Steve edged back into the room, his eyes widening as he tried not to focus on what may come of the future. Coulson, who had no idea that this could happen, was horrified. How could someone go from hearing fine and feeling fine, to sick with nothing involving his ears, then to deaf?

"Clint, calm down!" Bruce loudly snapped at the archer, placing a hand on the archer's right shoulder. Clint flinched at the feeling once again before his eyes focused on Bruce. It took a few seconds of Bruce still hearing the increased rate of breathing and heart rate to realize that Clint didn't know he said anything. "Calm down!"

"What?" Clint slurred as he tried to figure out what the doc was saying. Bruce nearly moaned as he realized he had no idea what to do right now. The best way to ever calm Clint down had always been simply talking to him, but now with that option gone... Even Natasha and Coulson were at a loss on what to do.

"What is going on here? What did you all do?" Dr. Ames shouted at the group as soon as he appeared at the doorway. The medical equipment had been going ballistic with Clint's panic attack and so he had been alerted that something was wrong. He rushed over to Clint's side in a matter of seconds, his eyes looking the archer over, trying to determine what was wrong. Clint focused on him when he noticed the others were facing the doctor. Feeling like he could help, Clint answered without even knowing the question.

"My ears!" he whined. Ames frowned, unsure how to answer that. Clint's eyes almost begged him for an answer. "Something's wrong with my ears!"

"Are they in pain?" Ames asked quickly. Clint's brow furrowed as he tried to focus on the question. Natasha gasped after a moment, looking to everyone in the room. Coulson shook his head, dismayed. Steve winced.

"He can read our lips. Go slow," she stated, but seeing as Clint didn't see her speaking, he responded to Ames.

"No. I... I can't hear," Clint moaned. Ames glanced at Natasha for a second before sighing and looking up to the ceiling in agony. He had known that this was a possibility with the medication and illness that Clint had but hadn't mentioned it because he had never known it to happen to anyone.

"Since when does he know how to read lips?" Tony snarked, rather then commenting on Clint's new found deafness. Clint's eyes glanced about the room, trying to catch the next person speaking. His eyes glanced over Coulson and they widened slightly but he was distracted when the agent spoke.

"He learned it when he was a kid. Long before coming to S.H.I.E.L.D but he perfected it here. As a sniper, he uses lip reading to help spy on potential targets," Coulson softly answered. Clint focusing on him a few seconds before hand. The archer frowned wondering why Coulson was there and no one was freaking out about it. But before he could ask, Ames took his attention away.

"Clint," Ames called, waving his hand before the archer's face to draw his attention. Clint turned and focused back on the doc. It was easier to deal with the doctor then it was trying to figure out what was going on with Coulson. "Ignore everyone for right now. Just focus on me. I need you to tell me if you can hear anything. Any buzzing, any whistling, anything at all."

"A small buzz," Clint responded after a minute. Ames nodded.

"Is it loud? Soft?"

"Can barely hear it. Something I would normally ignore," Clint mentioned, sounding slightly worried. Ames frowned but nodded again.

"Is he normally this? Placated?" Pepper whispered over to Bruce. Bruce shook his head along with Natasha, Coulson and a quick jerk from Steve.

"Is there anything else? Pain? Dizziness?" Ames continued, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that Clint understood how serious this was. Hell, there had been times that Clint was bleeding out from some sort of wound and the archer had tried to leave and return to his own bunk. There was this one time that Clint needed major surgery for a bullet stuck in his ribcage but Clint wanted to go back out and fight. He had been knocked unconscious and no matter how much anyone tried to convince him the fight was over, Clint still believed someone was after him and no one could stop him from getting out of medical, until they drugged him. That was the incident that made it protocol to drug the archer every time he arrived in medical.

"Just the buzz," Clint said. Ames sighed, unsure what to say next. "Is... Am... Uh. How long will this last?"

Everyone froze. The archer sounded so distraught. And even though his voice was no louder then a whisper, a miracle seeing as he had been pretty much shouting all the other times he had spoken, they could all hear his need for this to be quick. Clint had always been used to getting injured and having no more then a month off of missions. But the worse thing. Coulson knew that Clint had seen many agents from S.H.I.E.L.D that had been put behind desks or even 'let go' when they lost their hearing. The ex-handler could only pray that that wouldn't happen to Clint.

"At this point in time... I wouldn't venture a guess," Ames seriously answered. Clint's grey blue eyes looked up at the doc, showing his begging need for an answer. Steve’s eyes closed, as if in memory, and he looked away from everyone but said nothing. Ames shook his head. "Look, there are too many variables. You got sick with an illness that is known to cause hearing damage. You were also put on meds that has the same chance of doing the same. And then there is the fact that you fell down stairs, hence why you are here now. I have no idea if you hearing could be lost because of that. I doubt it's that but I can't fully eliminate that as an option."

"Am... Am I gonna be removed... From duty?" Clint nearly silently begged. Ames looked toward Coulson. When the agent shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, Ames turned to Steve who had just turned back. Clint followed his gaze and when he saw Steve's face, his own face fell. Steve sighed deeply. The Captain had no idea what trials they would be put through, but he was certainly going to fight to get Clint to stay.

"As long as you can adjust to the hearing loss and not be a danger, I wouldn't dream of having you removed," Steve slowly explained, trying for a confidence he wasn’t sure he felt. Clint frowned, taking the statement in the wrong way.

"I won't do anything stupid," Clint declared. And before Steve could respond, Natasha placed her hand on Clint's shoulder. The archer turned to look at her, this time better covering his jump of surprise.

"He means that if you can hear someone coming up behind you during a fight and can protect yourself as much as you protect us," she softly told him. Clint's frown deepened.

"I can protect myself," Clint whined. Natasha rolled her eyes. Ames waved his hand before Clint's face. The archer faced him.

"I'm going to want to run some tests on your ears. We need to figure out how bad this may be. And while doing that, I may be able to determine how long this could last," Ames informed the archer. Clint nodded. Feeling like he was done talking to Clint, Ames turned away from the agent and faced the rest of the room. "I have no idea how long these tests are going to last and I have no room for all of you to stay. I would prefer if none of you stay due to the nature of what is going on, but I understand how Agent Barton can be. So as long as someone stays on the Helicarrier, I'd be happy."

"I still have my room here," Natasha answered quickly. Everyone, but Clint, nodded. The archer hadn't seen her speaking and so was at a loss as to what was happening. But seeing as the conversation seemed over, and Ames giving the others a look that told them to leave, everyone began to slowly take off. No one seemed to notice the panic flashing through Clint's eyes as they waved to him and left the room.

\----------

It took about four days before the Helicarrier suddenly let out a blaring alarm. Natasha, who had been on the phone with Steve, jerked into an upright position in her bed. Steve called out to her over the phone, asking what was happening but she had no answer for him. The alarm was one she hadn't heard in a long, long time. Because of that, it took her a while to realize that it meant a dangerous agent has escaped Medical and they are potentially drugged and not aware of what is going on around them.

"Get the others and get here asap," Natasha finally retorted into her phone before ending the call and rushing out of her room. Coulson was coming down the other end of the hall, his hand on the comm in his left ear. His eyes glanced up from the floor in time to see Natasha turn and look at him. As she opened her mouth to ask what was happening, he raised a finger, telling her to wait. Frowning, she closed her mouth.

"Are you sure?" Coulson asked into his comm. A second later he hummed. Then his face paled and he shook his head. "No, don't send them armed. Yes, I understand he can be a danger. He won't harm an unarmed agent. God damn-it, I was his handler, I know how to treat him!"

"Clint? Clint left medical?" Natasha incredulously called. Coulson focused on her for a second before nodding and going back to listening to his comm. The spy couldn't believe it. Why would Clint run from medical? He knew that they were helping him. Hell, he had been rather placate the last time she had gone to check on him. He was still reading her lips, having been refusing to even begin learning sign language. But there was no sign that he wanted to run.

"What? How is Ames so certain?" Coulson suddenly screamed into his comm. Natasha froze. She had been warned by Ames that he was working on finding out how long this whole thing would last. He was getting more certain by the day that Clint's hearing would be a while to return, if at all. "Don't tell me he told him alone."

"Clint's deafness?" Natasha softly inquired. Coulson hesitated before nodding. "Shit, I know where he went."

With that, she spun on her heel and took off. Coulson's echoing footsteps sounding behind her. But Natasha didn't care. She needed to get to Clint before he did something really stupid. And knowing Clint, there was a lot of stupid things he could do but only one that would make her want to kill him. It was also the only one that Clint had hinted at if he ever lost the ability to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Agent Romanoff and I are on our way now! Tell everyone to back off if they find him and call us!" Coulson ordered. There was a pause before Natasha heard her ex-handler growling. "I don't fucking care! Cli... BARTON NEEDS ME!"

Natasha smirked lightly, glad that the agent behind her finally understood how important he was to the archer. Clint had been devastated when he was told about Coulson. She had waited until after the fight with Loki before she mentioned it. Thankfully she did it before he even noticed the other agent was missing. Clint had freaked. At first he was angry, wanting to get at Loki once again. Then he turned saddened by not being able to get revenge. But the worst was the guilt. Coulson's 'death' just added to the numbers at the end of the attack but it was the only one that truly weighed on Clint's soul.

It took about another four minutes before Natasha burst out onto then highest deck on the outside of the Helicarrier. In less then a second, she lost all her breath. Behind her, she could hear Coulson coughing into his comm, demanding that the Helicarrier be lowered. Natasha slammed the door shut and spun around. Hanging off the wall, right next to the door, were two air masks. She quickly grabbed one and threw it on. Before she could hand the other over to Coulson, the agent had already grabbed it and was wrestling it on. Once they were set, she opened the door again and the two stepped out onto the wind swept deck.

No more then three seconds later, Natasha spotted the archer and pointed to him when she got Coulson's attention. The other agent nodded and the two slowly advanced. Clint was standing directly on the edge of the Helicarrier. He also had a breathing mask on, which rather surprised Natasha considering what she figured he was planning on doing up here. When the duo were only a few steps away, Clint turned to look at them.

"You can't stop me," Clint told them through the mic embedded into the masks. Natasha shook her head, and her eyes shifted to show sadness. Clint frowned and then realized that the masks covered Natasha's and Coulson's mouths so they couldn't talk to him. Knowing it was so much easier on him. Sighing, Clint gave her a thumbs up. "It's for the best."

"Clint, don't do anything!" Coulson screamed into his mic, even though he knew the archer couldn't hear it. Clint gave him a thumbs up as well before stepping backwards. Coulson jerked forward, intent on trying to catch the other agent but Clint only had one more step before he vanished over the edge.

"NO!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a day late. With good reason! I couldn't see yesterday. My eyes decided to revolt against my contacts and my glasses are my old prescription and so I couldn't focus.
> 
> Yeah. Week has been a bit messed up with my eye issues. Been going on and off all week. So, there were a lot of days that I wasn't around Darius at all. But, he seemed to be okay. Out side of ticking hubby off with some snippy attitude. Then again, I get annoyed with the same attitude so... But yeah. Baby Jason just celebrated his first birthday yesterday! He's getting so big! Like Darius, I hardly spent time around him this week so I don't really have any new news. But, hopefully everything will be back to normal.


	11. After Effects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, I am not deaf nor need hearing aids. If any information is wrong, I apologize.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Tony screamed, making sure to keep his face centered on Clint. The archer looked away, embarrassed. The two of them had been at this for a while now. Clint refused to answer, no matter how many times Tony asked. The billionaire growled in anger and reached forward, risking his life, as he grabbed Clint's chin and raised it until the gray blue eyes focused on his face once again. All Clint could see was the anger. No understanding, no sympathy, nothing but anger. "What if I wasn't there? What then?"

"That was kind of the point," Clint muttered so softly that the slur made it hard to understand. His eyes dropped down so he couldn't see the shock on the genius's face when he mentally translated what the archer said. Tony snarled and released the archer's chin before storming off. He wasn't used to dealing with other people's emotional baggage. But now, after watching Clint jump off the Helicarrier and seeing him plummet to the ground, Tony finally understood why everyone was still upset with him from when he was having his palladium poisoning. Natasha, who had been in the room for the past few minutes, moved forward now. Her face showed very little emotion. A sign that she was rather upset with Clint.

"Clint, we're trying to work through this," she softly told her partner when he focused on her. Clint nodded, knowing that Coulson and her had already been informed of what Ames had figured out. He had seen it in their faces before. Hell, he had focused on Natasha's panicked face and simply prayed that she could forgive him. It was the reason he had tried to commit suicide by Helicarrier. Judging by Tony's reactions to catching him halfway toward the ground, Clint assumed that the genius hadn't been informed. Most of the other Avenger's panic was based on watching the archer fall from the carrier. "Please, give us more time."

"For what?" he asked, sounding much clearer then before. Natasha sighed, wishing that that was a sign that Clint's hearing was improving. But Ames had informed her that when Clint gets upset, he sounds more normal. Clint focused harshly on her face. He noticed that she winced lightly and he wondering if he was talking too loud. During testing with Ames, the doc had to say a few times that the archer was screaming and to calm down. "Seriously? More time for what? It's over Nat."

"What's over?" called Steve's voice as the super solider walked into the room, Bruce and Pepper in tow. There was a long pause as everyone waited for Clint to answer, almost as if they had all forgotten that Clint couldn't hear. When the agent gave his partner a look that asked if she as going to answer him, Natasha almost started crying. But instead, she sucked it up and mouthed the question for him. Turning away from the group, Clint just prayed that they'd all leave soon. There was no way in hell he'd ever admit what Ames had told him. He nearly jumped when a slightly chilled hand pressed against his and rubbed the handcuffs wrapped around his wrist. Slowly, he looked to it and followed it to Pepper's saddened face.

"I can't do this," Clint moaned to her when he saw the question waiting to be asked behind her eyes. Pepper gave a soft sympathetic smile before opening her arms into a hug. She nodded her head to him to make sure she had permission. Once he sighed and nodded back, she leaned over the edge of the bed and pulled the archer into a hug as best as she could considering he was locked down into the bed. While that was going on, Steve looked to the others in the room while Bruce turned to Clint's medical chart.

"What happened?" Steve asked sounding pained.

"We're damned lucky that I decided to fucking take my suit and fly ahead! That's what fucking happened!" Tony snapped, feeling more irritated with himself then he did with Clint. For some reason the genius was blaming himself for what happened. Almost as if he believed his presence could have changed something. Coulson entered the room at this point. He had been in a meeting with Fury about how mentally stable Clint was. Even though the older agent wasn't the archer's handler anymore, he was the only one who had the ability to answer that without asking Clint directly. Well, they could have asked Natasha as well but she seemed unsettled with the idea that Clint tried to kill himself.

"Okay, again without the swears?" Steve questioned. Tony snarled and spun around, intent on punching Steve but Bruce stopped him with a gasp. Tony paused as Bruce spoke.

"Oh my," the doc moaned. Steve, Tony, Pepper, Coulson and Natasha turned to look at him. Clint leaned back in his bed and focused on the blocked off vent above him. It was triple sealed with extra screws, super glued and had alarm sensors for a good five feet deep into it. There was no way he'd ever be able to escape this room again. Actually, Clint wondered why they never did anything like that in the first place. He was known to escape through the vents before his time in medical was served.

"What?" Pepper softly called when Bruce didn't continue. The doc looked away from the papers to see everyone but Clint focused on him.

"Clint... He's deaf..." Bruce paused, unsure how to continue.

"Yeah, old news. We knew that already. Get to something new," Tony snarled. Bruce looked away from the group.

"Ames has found that Clint's deafness will last for longer then a few months. He actually believes that it may be a few years before it comes back, if at all," Coulson continued for the doc, knowing that Natasha nor Bruce would be able to answer. Silence fell over the room as everyone processed the information. Coulson sighed and looked to Natasha. She hadn't been given all the information. When he was in his meeting with Fury, Ames had been there as well, putting in his own two cents. "Clint is 80% deaf in his right ear and his left ear started at 60% but through the tests have steadily gotten worse... Ames believes it will level out so that both ears are at 80%."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean he can still use hearing aids?" Pepper asked. Coulson nodded.

"But one EMP and out they go. A lot of the smarter villains have been trying to hit me with one. If I'm flying past Clint when they set it off, he'd... Well, he'd be like this," Tony pointed out, finishing by waving his hand over toward Clint. The archer was still focused on the vent above his bed and seemed to be ignoring everyone in the room. Steve sighed, slightly thankful that Clint wasn’t paying them any attention.

"Can't you design an aid that would last through an EMP?" Natasha questioned softly, praying against everything that Tony would say yes. There was a long hesitation.

"I don't know much about how hearing aids work. But given time, I can see what I can do," Tony admitted. Steve stepped forward. He knew something could be done. But he didn’t know who could do it.

"I want you working on that right away. If we can save Clint's hearing, I want it done," the Captain ordered. Tony nodded, for once not bothered by the fact that Steve was trying to force his authority over him. Normally this would have caused a huge fight. "Now, Natasha, what can we expect from Clint?"

"Well," Natasha began but stopped, turning to look at the archer. His eyes were beginning to look dazed as the spy realized that he was slowly falling asleep on them. Giving him a small smile that he didn't notice, Natasha looked to the others and nodded to the hallway. It took a few seconds before everyone understood she wanted them outside. Slowly they left, trying to get Clint's attention before leaving but he didn't once look at any of them. Once in the hall, Natasha silently closed the door, watched Clint for a few seconds before turning to look at the others. "Clint has pretty much given up."

"What do you mean?" Bruce inquired. Natasha sighed.

"Well, him jumping off the Helicarrier was him trying to make things easier on all of us. He's afraid of getting kicked off the Avengers and then fired from S.H.I.E.L.D. So, before any of that happened and, in his mind, ruined his life... He just figured it would be better if he simply died," Natasha explained, not fully understanding the logic behind it herself. But then again, Clint's never been all that great with logic. He normally just always went with the flow. It had never been a big deal, but Natasha had warning signs for situations like this. She had told her fears to Coulson and so the two had always been prepared. Hence why one of the two of them was always in Medical when Clint woke and why they were there when doctors delivered any type of news that left Clint laid up for longer than a month or so. But since Manhattan, things have changed.

"So is he going to continue trying?" Steve countered, fearing for Clint's mental health. He never knew how bad things could get. Natasha frowned and looked to the ground. As much as she wanted to say no, she couldn't. When Clint set his mind to do something, he kept on trying until he succeeded. Steve sighed and looked up to the ceiling as if praying for help. After a second, he looked back to Natasha. "What can we do?"

"Never leave him alone. Don't let him work too hard. Make sure he follows doctor's orders, whatever they may be. Don't let him focus on his problem, though that's going to be rather hard. Make sure he knows that none of you will give up on him," Coulson stated, taking over for Natasha. When the red head nodded in agreement, the others looked toward Clint. He was now completely lying back in the bed, his face was looking toward the other wall and his breathing was nice and even. "He's going to sulk on this for a long time. Everything will remind him of what he lost. Ames warned me that hearing loss effects more then just sound. He's going to have trouble speaking unless he focuses on his words, which is a slight given. His volume control will be just as bad. But worst of all, his balance is going to be off. He's going to have a hard time moving around until his sense of balance fixes itself. Hell, when he goes to shot again, don't be surprised if he misses."

"I didn't know that being deaf could mess with someone’s aim," Pepper murmured. Bruce, Coulson and Tony nodded. Tony only knew of that because of a past situation involving his father. Thankfully, his ears healed from the issue and it was never mentioned to the public.

"And Clint might not know that either. He seemed to get to the top of the Helicarrier fine so he either didn't notice his balance was off or he assumed it was the drugs still in his system. So be prepared for the shock of that. The more you all learn about his hearing disability and use your own knowledge to inform him and help him, the better your relationship will get. But don't shove all the information down his throat at once. Give it to him slowly, let him soak it in," Coulson explained. Everyone nodded, trying to remember all the right ways to treat Clint now. "Above all else, when he is allowed to go back to the tower, be careful when interacting with him. Make sure he knows you're there before trying much of anything. He is a trained assassin, remember that in all of your dealings with him."

"Speaking of him leaving," called a new voice. Everyone turned and noticed Dr. Ames walking down the hall toward them. One hand was curled around something rather small. "I've got some hearing aids for him."

"Are you sure that's wise right now?" Bruce questioned. Ames tilted his head to the side. "I mean, giving him the aids right after he tried to... Well, kill himself?"

"Well, there isn't much more I can do. I have no treatment for helping return hearing other than waiting, so there is no point in him being here. His meningitis is cleared up. As is the strep and flu. So, I just recommend him going home and getting used to using the hearing aids," Ames suggested. Bruce frowned and looked back toward the room. Ames followed Bruce’s gaze and sighed. Clint was actually asleep. "Well, we can at least give him some time to run out the rest of the drugs. He'll be good to go in a few hours."

"Hey doc, do you think you could explain how the aids work?" Tony softly asked. Ames raised an eyebrow at Tony, briefly wondering if the genius was serious. It took a few more seconds before Tony realized why the doc was giving him an odd look. The billionaire's face flushed in embarrassment as he raised his hands to defend himself. Once he began talking, the others either smiled or laughed at Tony. "No, not what I meant! I mean, I know they help him hear and all, but I need to know how! How they convert the sound waves and stuff. Hell, I just need to know how to make it so an EMP won't kill them."

"I get it. Yes, I can try and explain it. Meet me in my office in five and we'll work on it," Ames explained. Tony nodded, looking rather flushed as he turned away from the others.

"May I join you?" Bruce added. Ames nodded before handing off the aids that had been in his hands to Natasha. She accepted them and looked at them in almost a stunned silence. Unsure what to do now, she just stared. Even Pepper was staring at them awkwardly. Steve's gaze was focused on Ames, Tony and Bruce who were beginning to leave. Coulson was glancing over to Clint, making sure the archer was fine. It wasn't until Ames, Tony and Bruce rounded the corner that Steve turned to the girls and Coulson.

"Now what?"

"Now, we wait," Coulson answered, his gaze still on the sleeping archer in the other room.

\----------

It wasn't until the next day that Clint actually left Medical and was brought back to the tower. Ames had to spend an extra five hours making sure the aids he had brought for him were okay. They needed to be at a good volume, that they fit in the archer's ears properly, that they were comfortable, and a few other tests. And, as usual, Clint seemed to decide that he was going to be a jerk and be as unhelpful as possible. But once Natasha threatened to have Tony actually make the shock collar that was mentioned the day before, Clint began answering the doc's questions. Neither were sure if she would have actually gone through with the threat, but Clint figured it was best to be safe.

But now that they were back in the tower, no one had any clue what to do. Tony and Bruce had quickly escaped to the lab so they could get to work on building Clint's new hearing aids. No one noticed Clint's despaired look as they took off. The reason for it was because of the fact that none of them had explained what the two were going to be doing. In his depression, Clint believed the worst of everyone and so he thought that they were abandoning him.

Pepper told Natasha that she had work to do before hand so she placed a hand on Clint's shoulder lightly. When he snapped his head around to look at her, Pepper informed him of what she was doing. She waited until the archer nodded before smiling and giving him a light kiss on the cheek before leaving herself. That left Clint, Natasha and Steve standing in the entrance of the living room, wondering what to do now.

"Want to watch a movie?" Steve softly asked the two when there was another minute of silence. Clint shook his head no while Natasha waited to see how the archer would respond. When he said no, Natasha frowned but her eyes told Steve that she had wanted Clint to agree. Steve shrugged, knowing that they couldn't force Clint to do anything. Neither one of them noticed Clint's face closing off all emotions. Why would he want to watch a movie and be reminded that he'll never hear it again without the help of the stupid aids in his ears?

"In the mood to shoot," Clint muttered before spinning on his heel and walking off toward the elevator. Natasha and Steve traded a glance, wondering which of them should follow him. In the end, they both slowly trailed after him. Each forgetting what had been said. His balance was going to be off and likely his shooting. JARVIS opened the doors to the elevator and allowed them in but when Clint pressed the button for the range, JARVIS hesitated.

"Are you sure you wish to go there?" JARVIS questioned, having heard through Tony's phone that Clint's balance would be messed up. And while the archer had the hearing aids in at the moment, JARVIS could still compute the slight imbalance that made Clint lean to one side. Apparently no one had noticed it as everyone continued on like normal. Clint looked up toward the small camera that was placed in the corner of the ceiling by the control panel. His evil glare made JARVIS wish he didn't even ask. JARVIS also noted Natasha's and Steve's confusion but figured they'd realize what he meant sooner or later.

"JARVIS, let me go there," Clint ordered before harshly pressing the button. This time it lite and the elevator began to move. Natasha and Steve said nothing as they watched Clint begin to shift his weight back and forth between his feet. But before either one of them could come up with a good question to ask the archer, the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened. Clint nearly leapt out of the enclosed space and into the huge open range. Again, Natasha and Steve slowly followed.

"What are we gonna do if he misses?" Steve whispered softly as he finally remembered the warning from before. He hoped he had said it soft enough that Clint couldn’t hear it. But, it was too bad Clint had lied to Dr. Ames on the Helicarrier and made it so that he had almost superhuman hearing. Hearing Steve's question made the archer bristle. He hadn't missed a shot since his first lessons in the circus. Well, when it came to archery, he hadn't missed since then. Each new weapon he learned on he usually started with not hitting dead center but at least hitting the target. Not a miss for most people, but to him, anything that wasn't dead center was a miss.

"We'll deal with it if it comes," Natasha answered back, just as softly. Clint frowned. Natasha had never doubted him before. But rather then focusing on that issue, Clint turned off the aids like how Ames had taught him, not wanting to hear the others, before he began to mentally prepare himself for a few hours of shooting away his troubles. Grabbing his oldest bow and some normal arrows, Clint set himself up in the middle of the room. Natasha and Steve stood behind him. Not close enough to bother him and far enough away to be safe enough if an arrow backfired for some strange reason.

Clint sighed deeply as he stared at the targets before him. He was relaxing himself before reaching over his shoulder and grabbing an arrow. Loading it into the bow, he raised the weapon and drew the string back till it lightly touched his cheek. Sighing deeply, Clint closed his eyes as he felt the pull from the string's weight. Slowly he opened his eyes and focused on where he wanted to hit. A second later he released the string and stared in shocked silence.

"Oh shit," Natasha cursed when she focused on the target at the end of the range. Steve shifted so he could look down the range as Clint had been blocking his view of the target. Even his eyes widened in surprise when he saw where the arrow was placed. Just at the edge of the red center was the black arrow and purple fletching. "Clint?"

Clint said nothing. He just quickly grabbed a new arrow and loaded it into his bow. A second later he set himself up and shot again. This time the arrow landed on the right side, one ring out. Clint's eyes widened as his breathing increased. He wasn't sure how to respond to what had just happened. Natasha walked forward, making sure to do it right next to his side so that he could see her approaching. As she just about reached his side, Clint dropped his bow to the ground and his hands scrambled to turn back on the aids. He wasn’t going to be stuck in silence anymore. No way could he handle that again.

"Clint?" Natasha softly called, worried that this whole situation would make Clint's depression worse. As she slowly looked to see Clint's face, she realized this was far worse then depression. Clint just lost his one emotional outlet. This whole hearing issue was much bigger then anyone could have predicted. "Clint? Are you okay?"

"Tasha," Clint whined so quietly that the word was more light a high pitched cry. His silver blue eyes turned to look at her and all she saw was emotional devastation. It was so hard looking at him at this point. But Natasha held eye contact and watched as the tears began to form. That almost broke her own wall of emotions down. "Tash!"

"Clint, it will be okay," Natasha promised as she leaned forward, almost prepared to hug the archer. Clint dropped to his knees before she could stop him. After a second to realize that he had fallen, Natasha kneeled down beside him. Steve moved closer, wanting to help but when Natasha noticed, she shook her head no and waved him back. Frowning, Steve followed her order but his face told her that he didn't agree with it. "Clint, it's going to be fine."

"No... No, Tash... It won't," Clint nearly sobbed before leaning against her body. Natasha stiffened in shock before relaxing and pulling the archer closer into her. Clint easily fell into her. His eyes were focused on the two missed placed arrows. "I'm gonna get fired."

"No. No you won't," Natasha determinedly stated. Clint groaned, unbelieving, as he looked up into Natasha's green eyes. He wanted to believe her. Hell, he'd love to believe that what she was saying was true. But he knew more then she did. Clint's only good use was his aim. If he couldn't hit a target anymore, then what was he good for? Before Coulson, Clint had switched handlers faster then the months changed. He was a trouble maker that the Council hated anyways. And he was still partly labeled as a traitor by most of the other agents. Why would Fury want to deal with someone like that if they couldn't offer anything else?

"We won't let you get fired, Clint. You are part of this team, hearing or not," Steve nearly ordered from his position a few steps away. Clint stiffened at the Captain's voice and Natasha shot the super soldier an evil glare. When Steve gave her a confused look, she mouthed 'shut up' to him and left it at that. Steve really hated that idea. He wanted to help Clint just as much as Natasha. But when he noticed Clint's tense form hidden mostly by Natasha's body, he understood. Clint wouldn't open up to him. But the archer would open up to Natasha. "I'll go talk to Bruce about seeing what we can do to help."

The two assassins stayed silent as they watched Steve head for the elevator. Even when he turned to make sure that it was okay that he leave, neither of them spoke. With a quick, hesitant wave, Steve vanished into the elevator and took off for the lab that he knew the scientists had escaped too earlier that day. Once the elevator closed, Natasha looked down at Clint to see if he was more relaxed. Sadly, he wasn't. If anything, he was more upset then before.

"Clint, I promise. Everything will be fine," Natasha cooed. Clint laughed.

"You know that? Is that what you know?" Clint mocked, his mind briefly flashing back to when he was fighting off the remains of Loki's control before the battle in New York. Natasha almost winced at the familiar words but held it in at the last second. Slowly, Clint looked up to her face. She looked down at his. "What if you're wrong?"

"You need time. We all need time to figure this out. It's a big change," Natasha admitted. Clint frowned and looked back to the target and what he has now deemed the evil arrows. "You will get used to this."

"Nat... What if I don't want to?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I didn't post yesterday cause the night before had been so stressful that I only got like two hours of sleep and then had to deal with plumbers coming and fixing a large leak, trying to buy a new cage for my eight year old sugar glider that is having back leg strength issues and then falling asleep far too early. Heck, I missed my therapy appointment cause I slept through the alarm, two phone calls and five texts.
> 
> Darius is still with the snippy attitude. Beginning to whine about everything. Crying at things at the drop of a hat. Just overall giving us a bunch of stress. Bargaining with him has become a frequent life saver. We stand tall against our original disagreements with him but bargain with something to happen later in the day or giving him something he would have liked earlier. Yeah, not always the best idea but we are just typically too done to deal with it all when he gets really bad. And we know he's tired but he refuses naps and when he gets really bad it's always too early for bed. Trust me, we're working on it. Baby Jason is doing good. Has gotten a bit finicky about things but easier to handle than Darius.
> 
> Getting to a point now where I am unsure if I want quarantine to end or not. I want it to end so I can get a bit of privacy to type as my comp is set up in the main living room. But I don't want it to end cause I like hubby being home. Ugh. Here's hoping I not only decide but things work out in everyone's favor.


	12. Sleeping the Depression Away

Steve arrived at the lab with his mind still focused on Clint's miss fire. He couldn't believe that loosing his hearing could mess his aim up so much. How could something like that make Clint miss, not just once but twice? It just made no sense to the leader of the Avengers. But he knew someone who could help him make sense of this whole thing. Course as soon as the elevator opened to the hallway that lead to the lab that the scientists had locked themselves in, Steve wondered if he should bother Bruce. He could always ask JARVIS for help.

"Bruce, what about this?" Tony's voice called as it leaked down the hall. Steve sighed and moved forward feeling less and less comfortable with bothering either men.

"No, Tony. I need smaller," Bruce's voice responded gently but with a slight edge of annoyance. Steve almost smiled at the familiar tone. As mean as it was, Steve loved to hear the others getting just as upset or more so at Tony then he did. It made it feel more... Normal. No, that wasn't it.   
It made Steve feel more normal. Having everyone else having the same issue made it not seem so personal.

"Smaller? Are you serious?" Tony cried in disbelief as Steve finally entered the actual lab. The super soldier was half surprised that the glass doors weren't locked when he came upon them. Actually, he had been stunned to see them wide open and inviting.

"Tony, it's going in a piece inside Clint's ear canal. It needs to be almost microscopic," Bruce explained. Tony scoffed and spun to go looking through a huge bin of what seemed to be colorful wax but was actually cords covered in colored plastic. Steve smiled and waved when Tony's eyes fleeted over the captain before shifting back.

"Steve! To what do we owe the pleasure?" Tony asked. Steve hesitated long enough for Bruce to turn around and look at him as well.

"Well," Steve began but stopped, a hand raised and ran through his hair as he tried to think of what to say. Bruce put down some sort of tool before moving closer.

"What happened?" Bruce questioned, already seeing where this conversation was going. Steve looked at Bruce with a deep sigh and saddened eyes. Bruce silently groaned. "What did Clint do?"

"He went shooting," Steve explained.

"So, he always shoots when he needs to relax. Nothing new there," Tony scoffed. Bruce removed his glasses before rubbing his nose. He could see what happened as clear as day even though he hadn't been in the range during the incident. Tony, well Tony was oblivious. "Right? Nothing new?"

"Tony, Clint's hearing isn't normal now. Even with the aids. There is going to be an adjustment period," Bruce tried describing but the genius gave him a confused look.

"Adjustment period?" Tony asked.

"He missed," Steve answered for Bruce. Tony's eyes widened in shock.

"No!"

"Tony, his balance got messed up when he lost his hearing. The aids... They may not be adjusted correctly. His balance must still be slightly off. If he tried shooting like how he used too... I'm not surprised he missed," Bruce responded. Tony looked like he was about to smack the doctor for a minute before he realized what all this meant. In less then a second, the billionaire had turned his angry gaze upon the Captain.

"Why the fuck would you let him go shoot? We fucking mentioned the balance thing before!" Tony snapped before briefly wondering if it had ever been mentioned. But considering he couldn't take it back now, he just went with it.

"We had no idea what else to do! How would you have gone about telling him he couldn't? There was supposed to be nothing stopping him," Steve pointed out. Bruce nodded in agreement while Tony snorted in laughter.

"I'd simply tell him," Tony mentioned. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Always an out with you. Can't you see how that would have made the situation worse? Clint needed the relaxation of shooting. You tell him he can't and he'd fight you. Heck, it'd probably ruin any relationship you had with him," Steve growled. Tony snorted before spinning on his heel and walking back over to the bin of cables. He quickly shifted through them. Steve sighed and looked over at Bruce. The doc shrugged before sighing himself.

"Please tell me you didn't leave him alone," Tony asked, sounding more depressed then normal. Almost as if he was channeling Clint's feelings from ten floors away.

"Natasha is with him," Steve replied, unsure why Tony cared. Tony laughed and turned to look at Steve.

"You left him with the emotional wall?" he cried. He couldn't believe that Natasha could offer the distraught archer anything that involved emotions. Steve frowned, seeing in the billionaire's gaze that he didn't trust Natasha to handle Clint.

"Natasha knows what she's doing. They have been partners for years," Steve reminded. Tony scoffed.

"And that's why it wasn't until the debrief with Fury that Clint found out about Coulson," he snapped. There was a pause before he laughed and tossed his hands into the air. "Which we learned was a lie anyways, but still!"

"Do you think you can do better then Natasha? Do you know how to help calm Clint down? If you do, then feel free to go down and help. If not, I'd suggest working on those aids, he'll need them," Bruce countered for Steve. Tony rolled his eyes but didn't move to leave the lab. Instead he began going through the cables once again. Bruce glanced at Steve, silently asking if there was anything else. Once the doc was certain Steve was done, he turned back to the small devices behind him.

"Do you think I should go back?" Steve questioned after a few minutes of silence. But neither scientist answered.

"Don't bother, he just locked himself in his room," Natasha called as she entered the lab. Tony spun around.

"And you let him?" he incredulously called. Natasha then gave him a look that told him that somehow, Clint had either tricked her or had escaped from her. A very difficult feat to be able to do, but Clint knew much more of the tower’s defenses and hidden hidey-holes than any of them. The genius frowned. "Oh. Should we be worried?"

\----------

Clint slid down the door as he felt Natasha's fists begin pounding against it. Tears were falling out of his eyes as the vibrations shook his body. Clenched in his hands were the two offending aids that he had removed while running through the halls. He tried so hard to stop sobbing but he needed the release so badly. In his deafness, he missed that his sobs were so loud that Natasha could hear them through the door. Seconds later, the pounding stopped but Clint couldn't tell because his body was racked with sobbing that he was literally shaking.

Outside the room, Natasha closed her eyes and laid her head against the door. Sighing deeply, she absorbed all the sounds from the other room. There was only a handful of times that she had ever heard Clint cry. Not once did it ever sound as broken and defeated as he did right then. Nor was he ever this loud. But Natasha was more concerned about the fact that he handled Coulson's supposed death better then losing his hearing. That one had come as a bigger shock, or so she thought. Frowning, Natasha backed away from the door.

"We'll work through this Clint. I swear, we'll work through this," Natasha promised, even though she knew that the archer had removed his hearing aids. Never mind the fact that his crying would have drowned out the words normally. But as tears began to form in Natasha's own eyes, she steeled herself, shutting down her emotions before spinning on her heels and walking back toward the elevators.

It took Clint almost thirty minutes to calm himself down enough to get away from the door. And even then, he crawled along the floor until he made it deeper into the apartment. Getting to his feet, slowly, Clint wandered into the living room area of his apartment and froze. The TV was on. Admittedly it was a black screen, but Clint could tell it was on. He stared at it while it was off so much that he could tell the slightly more grayed tone that indicated it was trying to show some sort of picture. In his stupor, he watched as writing began to fill the screen. Not once did he even think that this was a threat or even a hallucination, he just read.

' _Agent Barton, would you like for me to call upon someone? Or would you like to be left alone?_ ' The words read. Clint frowned at it before realizing that it had to be JARVIS. Without the hearing aids, Clint couldn't hear the AI, so the computer hacked into his television. Clint smiled softly before gently replacing his aids, ignoring that he’d never hear the AI without help of the offending pieces of tech. Right away he felt a sharp pinch as one of the wires lightly touched his skin and sent off a small electrical pulse. He winced, determined to ignore it. Ames had mentioned that if Clint put the aids in wrong then that would happen. Sighing, he wished that he paid a bit more attention to how to properly put the aids in his ears.

"Thanks JARVIS, I'll be fine," Clint clearly called out into the room. He was pleased to know that he could actually hear his own voice once again but all of it just reminded him of what he lost. There was a slight buzzing from his aids seconds before the AI responded. Frowning, Clint wondered if that would happen every time. If it did, it was certainly going to get really annoying, really quickly.

"That is not what I asked, Agent Barton," JARVIS said in a tone that sounded so much like mockery. Clint snorted in humor. Trying to forget about his blasted aids and have a decent conversation with the AI wasn’t as easy as one might believe.

"I know. I would like to be left alone for now," Clint admitted, humor covering his sadness. There was a long pause. Frowning, Clint wondered if JARVIS had spoken and his aids didn't catch the words. But then he heard the slight buzzing again before the AI spoke.

"Should I be worried for anything, Agent Barton?" JARVIS asked. Clint hesitated. He couldn't have heard what he thought. The aids must be really messing with his hearing more then he first thought. Cause there was no way that the AI could sound worried.

"Like what?" Clint retorted, half fearing the answer he'd get. When JARVIS refused to respond, Clint knew what the AI meant. At first he scoffed at the idea, surprised that JARVIS would even think that. But then he remembered the Helicarrier incident. Though it was Tony who caught him in the Iron Man suit, JARVIS was hooked up to it. The AI had seen what Clint had attempted. He sighed deeply, wondering how his life had turned into this one question. Would he try and commit suicide again? "No. No, I don't think we have to worry about that."

"If you are certain," JARVIS bravely answered. Clint nodded, reaching up to rub his ears. Briefly he wondered if he should mess with the settings to try and get rid of the buzzing but decided against it. It was a second later that Clint realized the AI was humoring him. He didn't believe the archer. And that idea almost crushed the remains of Clint's heart. If the logical AI couldn't believe him, how could he convince the others?

Distraught and no longer in the mood to be polite to the AI, Clint removed the aids and threw them against the furthest wall in the room. In a testament to S.H.I.E.L.D tech, they didn't shatter or even look to break. Clint screamed in anger before storming off to the bedroom and dropping his body heavily onto his queen sized bed. He laid there for less then a minute before he realized that he hadn't heard himself scream. His sore throat indicated that he had and he was pretty positive that he did it at the top of his lungs. But he hadn't heard any of it. Once again, the tears began to form but this time, he refused to let them fall. So there he laid for over an hour, fighting the need to sob into the sheets before drifting into an uneasy sleep.

\----------

The others were unsurprised when Clint didn't make an appearance for the rest of the day. JARVIS informed them that the archer was fine, simply sleeping off his depression, and urged them to continue on without him. Natasha and Pepper were both unsure with the decision but when the AI promised to keep an eye on Clint, they relented. It felt weird for all of them, knowing that Clint was locking himself up in his room. Even after the Manhattan incident, Clint hardly locked himself away to sulk for this long a period of time. Natasha had even mentioned before that Clint would always prefer company to sulking but sometimes things got bad enough that he needed space before hanging with others. It seemed that more then just hearing loss had changed.

Dinner was silent with two missing team members. Everyone had slowly made their way up and began making separate pieces of the meal. Steve cooked the main meats, Bruce made the soup, Pepper made a side salad and Natasha baked the bread. Tony, the last to appear, got all their drinks set. It was the safest thing for him to do. But as they sat down to eat, everyone focused on Clint's empty seat.

"JARVIS? Is Cupid coming for dinner?" Tony asked when he saw Natasha glance over at him, an almost desperate look on her face. There was silence for a few moments before JARVIS answered.

"I believe not sir. He is still sleeping," JARVIS said. Everyone sighed. No one knew what to say, or even do at this point. It was all a waiting game now. And they could only hope that the team would make it through this.

After the awkward dinner, Tony suggested they try to watch a movie. Again, JARVIS said that Clint wouldn't join them. The movie was chosen by Steve. It was a movie that he had picked out long before this moment and had been waiting for the night he got to pick. But now, as he re-read the description, he wondered if it was a good idea. Giving in to the idea that it might help in the end, he tossed it in. Sadly, it was a historical movie based on Helen Keller. The only reaction that most of the group gave to it was wondering why the hell Tony would have a movie like that. But needless to say, they did learn a bit more about what Clint was likely going to be suffering through. And they could only pray that Clint wouldn't be as bad as Keller considering he had been able to hear and he wasn't blind.

With the disaster of a movie, they all called it a night and headed to bed or what they considered to be bed. Tony ended back up in the labs, trying to work on the hearing aids without Bruce's help. AC/DC blared through the speakers as he worked away. Bruce headed to his sound proof relaxation room, playing some nature sounds that he had recorded while on the run. Natasha actually did head to her room. There she grabbed the Ipod that Coulson had given Clint as an anniversary for joining S.H.I.E.L.D. When she had learned of his deafness, she had broken in to his room and stolen it. Now, she laid on her bed crying as she listened to the archer's preferred playlist. Most of the songs were ones that the two had heard on missions and enjoyed. Steve went to the gym and quickly began beating on the poor punching bags to some sort of rock music Tony suggested would make Steve feel better. He made it through sixteen before he went back to his room and drifted off into a heavy sleep. Pepper headed to her and Tony's room. At first she tried sleeping. Then she tried reading. In the end, she fell asleep watching TV. Not a one of them even noticed that every activity involved an aspect of hearing. Something Clint now did not have the luxury of doing.

It was because of all of their choices in resting that no one heard Thor return to the tower. Even though he had caused a huge thunderstorm in his return, not a one of them heard it. So the thunderer stood in the living room, wondering why someone had yet to greet him. Normally, someone was waiting for him on the roof at the first sounds of thunder. But tonight, he could not find a single person. JARVIS eventually took pity on him and informed him that the others had gone to bed. Okay with the idea that his friends were safe in their rooms, Thor turned to TV on in the living room and began to watch whatever came on until morning.

\----------

Clint woke to sun streaming onto his face. Turning his head away, the archer groaned at the mild headache. He had been suffering through morning headaches now for so long that it didn't faze him. But he silently resolved to talk to Bruce and make sure he was completely cured of his numerous illnesses. Getting up out of bed, Clint stumbled over to his bathroom and turned the shower on without a thought to what time it might be. Pausing to look in the mirror, Clint saw his reddened eyes and frowned. He remembered crying a little before but he didn't think it would have lasted. Looking back to the bed, he noticed a wet spot on the sheets, right where his face had been. He had slept cried. Shaking it off, he stripped down and stepped into the shower. He really didn't want to think about it, so he just went through the motions.

Ten minutes later, Clint was standing in his bedroom, a towel on his head and boxers covering his lower self as he searched for a shirt and pants. To his dismay, much of his clothes were dirty. The only clean outfit he could find was a pair of Iron Man pajama bottoms (a prank gift from Tony to everyone, but it hadn’t just been that, they all got everyone’s pjs) and a Captain America tee (the first Christmas gift that Coulson ever gave him). With a deep begrudging sigh, Clint grabbed the clothes and threw them on, sneaking in some weapons in as well. He figured that everyone would leave the subject of wearing pjs alone because it was still morning. Not that the subject of what was on the pjs would be ignored, but Clint could only hope that no one would point it out. Or even better, that he'd be able to get breakfast before Tony had woken up and seen them.

"Wait, is it still morning?" Clint unknowingly said aloud. Having thought that he was mentally saying that, he didn't expect an answer. But JARVIS, being the ever faithful AI, did.

"It is indeed still morning, Agent Barton," JARVIS answered, assuming that the agent had his hearing aids in. When the archer didn't respond with his normal 'thanks', JARVIS paused. It took the AI a few seconds to realize what happened. If it was possible, the computer was embarrassed. Thankfully, Clint had no idea of the snafu and there was no other proof of the mistake that JARVIS had made. Automatically, the AI turned on every screen in the entire apartment and typed out a message to the agent on every electronic device in Clint’s rooms. ' _Are your hearing aids in, Agent Barton?_ '

Sadly, Clint didn't notice a single message. Once dressed, he returned to the bathroom and made sure he looked mostly awake. After being certain that he looked fine, Clint turned and left his apartment. Not once did he glance at a screen or even in the direction of the abandoned aids. As it was his first day without hearing in a non-controlled environment, it was no surprise that he completely forgot. And JARVIS felt completely useless. There was no protocol that told him what to do next. And so the AI simply tracked the archer through the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depressing week for me. I had to put my sugar glider Momo down. He had lost use of his back legs and his breathing was off. By the time the vet hospital got to him, he was too weak. There was a small chance of doing aggressive treatments to help him but in his state, the vet didn't think he'd live. I wasn't going to have his last days suffering and not with me. So, I said goodbye. Just like my cat Binks (I don't remember if I mentioned that he had to be put down as well), this illness appeared within days and it was too late to help. Darius is suffering from loss more with Momo then with Binks. Even though he'd been with Binks more than Momo. He keeps asking when Momo was going to come home from the 'pet hospital.' When we explain that he won't, Darius bursts into tears. It hurts and sucks for all of us. Now I can only hope that Miles (who is sixteen or seventeen years old) doesn't get ill and passes. Though, considering all the younger pets keep going, Appa might be next. Life sucks.


	13. You Can't Forget

Upstairs, Thor was still enjoying his marathon of QVC. Why he had turned on this particular channel, no one could say. But the thunderer had enjoyed listening to all the different items up for sale. Tony was just thankful that the thunderer still had no idea how to correctly use a credit card or the tower would have been filled with random unneeded items. Steve had been the first one to make an appearance upstairs. Thor didn't notice.

"Thor?" Steve called when he entered the living room. The Asgardian turned and let loose a huge smile when he noticed the captain.

"Steven!" Thor cried before standing and striding over to the super solider. Steve had two seconds to realize he was about to get crushed/a hug from Thor before the thunderer had his arms wrapped around his waist. Thor actually lifted the super solider up off his feet before gently placing him back down on the floor and releasing him. Steve smiled when he realized that his ribs weren't hurting like they normally did when the Asgardian hugged him. It meant that the thunderer must have been holding back on his strength. "How do you fair?"

"Hello, Thor. I'm good. How was your visit with Jane?" Steve asked, feeling relieved that now the whole group was together again. He wouldn't have to worry about any one of his team members now. It was a good feeling.

"Lady Jane tis well! She showed me the things she worked on. I do not understand much of it, but it was fun learning," Thor explained. Steve nodded. Before either of them could continue talking, Bruce rounded the corner. His glasses were in his hands and he was rubbing his nose and eyes. So, the poor doc had no warning before Thor rushed over and lifted him into a hug. "Doctor Banner!"

"Thor! Breathing!" Bruce gasped while Thor left the doc lifted into his hug. Smiling sheepishly, Thor placed the scientist down and backed away. Bruce nearly dropped to the ground as he tried to refill his lungs with air. Steve smiled, trying to cover his slight laughter at seeing the crushing hug. He could laugh about it because there was no tinge of green on Bruce's skin, meaning Hulk didn't deem the hug as a threat. A honestly good sign that Hulk had gotten used to the other members of the tower.

"I am truly sorry. Lady Jane has taught me how to hug people. It seems I was... Over enthusiastic," Thor muttered. Bruce nodded, feeling much better and so he stood straighter. He didn’t seem upset at all. In fact, Bruce almost seemed pleased.

"It's fine... More surprising is all," Bruce said. Thor sighed, glad that the doctor wasn't upset with him. "When did you get back?"

"Last night. The ceiling voice informed me that you were all sleeping. So, I waited here. This show is most amusing," Thor informed the two. Bruce and Steve then looked to the TV. The show was all about two women talking about some type of necklace for sale. "I enjoy listening to those who have used many of the items."

"Uh, Thor, that's not really a show," Bruce mentioned. Thor glanced back at the screen before shrugging. What did he really care? As long as it entertained him. Bruce felt the same way so he shrugged and walked off toward the kitchen which was attached to the living room by a bar. When Steve and Thor turned to follow him, Natasha and Pepper appeared.

"Hello Thor," Natasha called without even looking at the god. Pepper smiled to him when the blond turned to them. He smiled to them but didn't go for a hug, fearing that the two wouldn't be able to handle his 'hug' if he made a mistake again. "What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you want," Steve answered as he rounded the bar to help Bruce set up. The two had agreed the night before that they would make breakfast in the morning. Actually, they had planned on making whatever anyone wanted, within reason. They had to be able to make it.

"Pancakes?" Natasha suggested, knowing that Clint really enjoyed pancakes. She didn't understand why he did, but whenever he wanted some, she indulged him. Steve nodded in agreement to the suggestion and quickly began searching the fridge for some of the ingredients. Bruce smiled, remembering each time that there was a free choice in the matter, Natasha always asked for pancakes. Even if she only had one. But Clint made up for it each and every time.

"I would like the tart of pop," Thor declared. Bruce rolled his eyes before reaching into a cabinet and pulling out a box. As he placed it down on the table, Tony rounded the corner rubbing his eyes and dressed half in pjs. He yawned before noting who was in the room.

"Point Break! How are you?" he called, ignoring everyone else in the room for the appearance of the missing Avenger. Thor smiled and nodded a hello to the billionaire, having decided that giving him a hug may not be the best idea. While tightly hugging Natasha and Pepper could injury their ribs, if he gave Tony a tight hug, he may bend the metal casing of his Arc Reactor.

"I am well," Thor answered. Tony nodded and looked to Bruce and Steve.

"What's for breakfast?"

"What do you want?" Steve responded. Tony paused to think about it.

"An omelet with peppers, onions, spinach, and tomatoes. And don't forget my coffee!" Tony pretty much demanded. "Oh wait! I also want french toast and not just a slice of bread dipped in eggs, I want actual french bread made into toast. And bacon! Sausage, completely hand made right now. Hard boiled eggs. Uh."

"How bout just the omelet and normal toast, with coffee?" Bruce countered. Tony pouted.

"Fine," he moaned. Steve and Bruce chuckled at the genius before getting some of the ingredients together. Pepper then entered the kitchen.

"We have some premade, frozen sausages, I think," she informed the cooks before taking said package out of the freezer. As she placed it on the counter, she also opened the fridge to take out a pound of bacon. "And we have bacon."

"Sounds like the breakfast of champions," Steve joked before grabbing the sausages to read how to cook said item.

"What will you and Bruce be eating?" Thor questioned when he realized that the two didn't seem to be cooking for themselves.

"I'll have some pancakes," Bruce admitted. "And some bacon."

"I'll have some of these sausages, bacon, toast and my own omelet," Steve mentioned as he cracked open an egg into a heated pan. Thor nodded before going back to his pop tarts. It was then that Clint came into the kitchen. His gaze was focused on the floor and so he didn't notice everyone in the room. Nor did he even pay attention. As he had walked through the halls of the tower, his balance had been so badly messed up that he kept on bashing into walls so he kept on having to watch was he was doing.

"Clint of Barton!" Thor pretty much shouted to the archer in joy at seeing him. He was excited to see the archer as he had found a gift for him while visiting Jane. Standing, Thor went over to see Clint and placed a hand on his shoulder. It took less then a second before Thor was flipped over Clint's shoulder and slammed onto the floor with Clint on him, a knife against his throat. Tony, Natasha and Pepper all jumped to their feet in surprise as Bruce dropped the spatula in his hands and Steve spun around with a knife. Shock was on everyone's face, even Clint's.

"Thor! I'm sorry," Clint screamed before backing away from the downed Avenger. Once he was a good distance away, he looked to the knife in his hand before dropping it on the ground. Thor slowly sat up, looking at Clint as if the archer had betrayed him. Clint slowly looked around at everyone's shocked faces before noticing that Steve had his own 'weapon' in his hands. His own expression turned to surprise before he looked back to Thor and the knife on the floor. After another beat, he ran from the room, crashing half into the wall before continuing down the hall.

\----------

"What the fuck was that about?" Tony cried, looking toward Natasha for the answer. The red head looked to Thor with an apologetic look. She realized that Thor had never been informed of Clint's newest condition and had acted like normal. And given that Clint was still getting used to being deaf, he reacted as if he was getting attacked by an enemy. A completely natural response from an assassin but not a normal reaction from a good friend/team mate.

"Thor, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Clint... Well, Clint has a new condition," Natasha began trying to explain. Tony scoffed as Thor looked confused. Steve and Bruce sheepishly went and moved the food they had been working on off the stoves. Pepper sat back down, her hand sitting over her heart as she tried to calm down. Natasha sent a quick glare in Tony's direction. "He... Well, he's deaf."

"Deaf? What does this mean?" Thor asked, having never heard the terminology before.

"He can't hear," Natasha explained. Thor frowned. He had never heard of something like that happening. The spy sighed as she tried to figure out how to explain what she meant to a ‘god’ who never really had to deal with illness before.

"Well how the fuck do you explain him attacking Thor?" Tony snapped at Natasha, not liking the fact that she ignored his earlier question. Natasha spun to look at the genius.

"Clint is a trained assassin who is used to being attacked. Many times before he has had enemies sneak up behind him to try and kill him. For us, what he did was a normal and natural response to what he deemed as a threat," Natasha snarled. Tony growled, wishing he had been warned before that something like that could happen.

"What the fuck! What if it was Pepper, or even me that did that to Clint? Why the hell didn't you warn us!" Tony shouted at the spy. Natasha moved closer to Tony in her anger. Her fists clenched tight as she tried not to take a swing at the billionaire's face.

"I thought it would have been obvious to not sneak up on him. You know how tense Clint and I can be. It will be even worse for him now that he can't hear!" Natasha growled. Tony shook his head in anger before stepping forward, toward the angry spy. Pepper glanced to Bruce and Steve but it was clear that neither of them knew what to do or say. Thor frowned.

"Well obviously, it wasn't!" Tony cried. Natasha pulled back her arm and then paused. Her whole body shook with rage before finally she sighed and dropped her arm to her side.

"I'm sorry," she snipped before storming off down the hall that Clint had run through.

"Tony, that wasn't nice," Pepper admonished, standing herself and walking off after the two assassins.

"What?" Tony called, watching as his girlfriend walked off. Slowly he turned to look at Bruce, Steve and Thor. All three were watching him with mixed emotions on their faces. "I am right, right? She should have warned us."

"We need to be patient and realize that there is a lot of changes that will be happening," Bruce responded. Tony snorted and turned away. "It's not just Clint that needs to adjust. We all will. I've mentioned this before."

"No, you mentioned an adjustment period," Tony stated, harshly pointing a finger at the doc. Bruce sighed.

"I meant it for all of us. Clint can't do things how he used too and neither can we. We can't just assume that he knows where we are at all times. Nor can we assume he has his hearing aids in every second. He is deaf, he can't hear us so that means we have to be as helpful as possible," Bruce explained. Tony scoffed before spinning on his heels and storming off down a different hall then where the two assassins and Pepper had gone down. Bruce groaned before looking back at all the food that he and Steve had collected and were in the process of making. Thor stood and glanced at the two cooks as Steve placed the knife down on the table with a deep sigh.

"I'm guessing breakfast is over?" Steve moaned.

\----------

Yet again, Clint found himself leaning against his door as he felt Natasha pound on it. This time though he did not slid down to sit on the floor. He just leaned on it for a few more seconds before pushing off of it and heading across the apartment to find the aids he had tossed so carelessly the day before. It only took a few seconds to find the small pieces and place them back into his ears.

"Clint! Clint!" Natasha screamed through the door as her fists pounded away. Clint sighed as he realized how loud she was shouting at him but still, he hadn't heard her until the aids were replaced in his ears. Sighing deeply, he walked back over and opened the door to not only see Natasha standing there, but a very upset Pepper as well.

"Nat. Pepper," Clint greeted before backing away to allow them access into his apartment. Natasha stormed by and Clint could tell by her body language that she was pissed off with Tony, once again. He sighed and watched as Pepper walked by. Again, by the woman's body language, he could tell that Tony had done something really stupid. Once they were fully past, Clint closed his door and turned to face the girls. "What did Tony do?"

"Forget it," Natasha snarled, not wanting to talk about the billionaire. Clint nodded, understanding that it must have been really stupid if she didn't want to answer. "What happened?"

"Forgot my damned aids," Clint snapped. Natasha shook her head.

"You couldn't hear Thor shouting at you?" Pepper questioned, softly, almost hesitantly as she sat down in a chair. Clint's face darkened, answering her question without saying a word. She looked away, feeling sorry for the archer. Natasha sighed, sitting down on the couch, wondering just how much worse this whole situation could get.

"Forgot my aids. Couldn't hear a damned thing," Clint said so softly that the two women almost missed it. He looked away from the two of them and turned to face the window that looked out over the New York skyline.

"Clint, you have to be careful about that," Natasha chastised him. Clint's eyes narrowed as he walked toward the window. Silently he noted that his balance had improved. That would have to be his first warning that his aids weren't in. Something he hadn’t noticed before. "We can't have it that we're walking on eggshells around you."

"What the hell, Nat?" Clint cried, spinning around to face his partner. Pepper gasped in shock at the tones that the two were using. "I fucking forgot! It happens!"

"Well, it can't happen. What if instead of Thor, it was Pepper that greeted you this morning? What if I'm waiting outside your door in the morning? We can't have you attacking any of us each time that happens!" Natasha snapped, standing up from the couch in an effort to defend herself better. Clint shook his head, wondering why his partner sought to blame him for what happened. He had just done what was natural when he thought he was being attacked.

"I just forgot my aids!" Clint called, not sure what else he could say. But as her words echoed around in his mind, Clint realized how much of a danger he would be to Pepper, Tony and hell, even Bruce. God forbid he flipped Bruce, Hulk would have come out and attacked. Slowly, his eyes dropped to the floor before he spun to face the window. Tony should have just let him fall.

"Do you understand why you can't forget things like that?" Natasha snarled. Clint nodded, looking slightly defeated. Natasha sighed. "You need to remember things like this. You're..."

"Too dangerous. I know," Clint growled. Natasha shook her head.

"You're in a new situation right now. You just have to remember that you-" Natasha began again. Clint spun around in anger. His face was covered in betrayal.

"Are a risk to everyone!" he nearly screamed at her. Natasha flinched in shock. That was partly what she was going to say but certainly not in the way that Clint said it. Clint looked away from her again and turned to look at the ground. His mind flashed to the idea of how high the tower was and if it was worth the risk of landing on a civilian when he dived off. With a sigh, Clint realized the others would never allow it. "Including myself."

"Why would you say that?" Pepper asked, sounding more worried then either of the assassins had ever heard before.

"Don't you remember? I tried to jump off the Helicarrier," Clint declared before spinning to look back out the window. After a second of silence, he cried out in anger and punched the glass. Pepper winced before looking away from the archer, tears beginning to form in her eyes again. Natasha frowned before walking over to Clint and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Clint, this is a new experience for all of us. I shouldn't just take it out on you," Natasha softly told the archer. Clint sighed, his body relaxing slightly at her touch. "I'm sorry."

"Just... Lets just not even talk about it. I... I'm gonna head down to the gym," Clint responded before turning away from the spy and walking toward the door. Natasha watched in misery as Clint opened the door and left, not saying another word to either woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius had been a complete pain in the arse! Constantly fighting us, giving attitude. And earlier this week he tore apart a bean bag chair. Not only creating the hole in the first place but also digging the beans out of the thing. Poor hubby had to clean up the entire mess. We're trying our best but it's getting sooooo annoying to try and deal with it. Cause he just doesn't seem to friggen care. No matter what we do. We've legit thrown out some of his toys (they were broken to the point of danger but still) and he just stared at us. Yeah, he gives us the whole crying fit and stuff like a guilty child but two seconds after punishment finishes he's back at whatever we had yelled at him for before. How are we supposed to respond to that? ARGH! Oh well. We'll deal soon.


	14. Changes

Clint entered the gym without a thought and froze. There, on the mattress pads, was Thor and Steve in the mists of a fight. At quick glance, one may say that Thor was overpowering the Captain but Steve was actually the one winning the fight. Clint smiled lightly at seeing them but then he noticed something. Whenever Steve got a hit in on Thor's back, the thunderer would wince before going back to the fight and Steve would give him an apologetic look. It took a few moments before Clint realized that it had to have been when he flipped Thor. Landing on the ground must have hurt Thor more then anyone expected, which was odd. Or maybe it was just... Just fear that Steve might do the same thing.

Feeling guilty, the archer spun on his heel and left the gym. He really didn't want to be there with Thor at the moment. Not really paying attention to where he was going, Clint was stunned when the next door to open was the one to the range. Pausing at the door, Clint wondered what he should do. Normally, in a time like this, Clint would start shooting, if only to relax. Sighing, Clint entered and allowed the door to close. Slowly, he made his way deeper into the room before turning to the lockers where his bows were locked up. Removing the key card he always carried, Clint unlocked the doors and opened it before grabbing his newest bow. Petting it like a cat, Clint frowned and looked at the other bows. Hiding deep in the back was his first bow. Replacing the bow in his hand, Clint reached for that one.

It had taken him many years to find this particular bow. He had gotten it when he stole it from Trickshot while working at Carson's Carnival of Traveling Wonders. Hell, he only joined the carnival at the behest of his brother, Barney. But after watching Trickshot, he feel in love with the idea of archery. So when he found this bow left in a trash box, Clint took it and spent every spare second he had training with it.

Feeling rather nostalgic, Clint messed a bit with the string, making sure the tension was still good and the bow itself would handle the use it was about to endure. Pleased that it was still as tight as he remembered, he grabbed a quiver of normal arrows and spun around to face the targets. Licking his lips, he cautiously shifted his hand to his ear. As much as he didn’t want to, he should train a bit without his hearing. So, he shut them off. Strapping the quiver to his back, Clint then reached back and grabbed an arrow. Silently, he knocked it onto the bow and took aim at the nearest target. Letting out a breath, he steadied himself. Inhaling as he made sure it was completely in line, he let go with his next exhale.

THWACK!

Clint nearly cheered with joy. The arrow was sitting on the edge of the center ring. It was just like the first shot he had ever taken back when he was a little kid. While it wasn’t the center shot he normally took, somehow being on the oldest bow made him feel a bit better about missing. Smiling, Clint grabbed for another arrow and proceeded to do the same thing. This time the arrow struck in a few inches away from the first arrow but still not center. Grunting in surprised pleasure, Clint tried again. Yet again, it was closer to the center but still not truly there. Groaning, Clint tried a fourth time.

It took two more arrows before Clint was able to hit the center mark. Pleased, Clint finished the rest of the quiver into that one target. Each arrow after hit the center. Wanting to scream with pleasure, Clint restrained himself in order to walk toward the target and collect the arrows. Once collected, he returned to the firing platform and aimed for the next target back.

Three hours later and Clint was landing center shots on every target. Feeling much better then he had since finding out about his loss of hearing, Clint decided to move onto the next step. Going around and collecting the arrows once more, he returned to the firing platform and froze. Someone was in the room with him. Nocking an arrow, he then spun and aimed it toward the door before pausing.

"Bruce?" Clint called in shock. The doc smiled and walked further into the room as Clint lowered the bow and arrow. Bruce started to say something but Clint held up a finger before turning the aids on. Then he nodded that Bruce could continue.

"How are you doing?" Bruce asked, his eyes glancing over the targets. He saw numerous holes in every target but mostly it was all on the center marks. Clint unnocked the arrow and returned it to the quiver before glancing over the targets like Bruce. He sighed and shrugged.

"Good, now," Clint admitted. Bruce nodded, understanding why Clint felt better about being able to hit the targets.

"JARVIS mentioned you've been down here for a little over three hours," Bruce mentioned as if Clint didn't know. When the archer's eyes widened slightly, Bruce wondered if the archer had just simply lost track or he really didn't know. "What have you been doing?"

"Shooting," Clint stated as if it was obvious. Bruce smiled, having expected this answer. Clint snorted when he noticed that Bruce had figured that that was going to be what he said. It meant that they were hanging out with Tony too much. "I've been resetting myself. After... Well, after this morning I figured out that my balance is messed up."

"Your sense of balance was thrown off by your lack of hearing," Bruce mentioned. Clint frowned and glared over at a target. Bruce sighed. "We should have warned you."

"I wouldn't have listened," Clint admitted with a soft smile. Bruce chuckled, knowing how true that statement was. "It's probably for the best anyways."

"What? Finding out the way you did?"

"Yeah. That and... Learning that I can't be... Well, me," Clint said. Bruce frowned, unsure what the archer meant. Clint glanced over at the doctor and sighed when he saw the confused expression. "It makes it easier to be... Dismissed when I can't even shoot. I'm a danger. I... I can't even tell when a team mate tries to greet me."

"Clint. Don't be like that," Bruce begged. Clint snorted and turned backed to the targets. Bruce moved slightly behind the archer and watched as he nocked an arrow and aimed. "Clint. We all have to adjust to this new change. Not just you."

THWACK!

"I don't want to adjust! Hell, I don't want you guys to adjust!" Clint shouted, loading up three arrows before shooting them all. All three hit three different targets, dead center. Bruce smiled at the shots. At least having the aids on seemed to keep him back at normal skill level. It was just a matter of having the archer switch back and forth between hearing and not now. "Bruce..."

"Hmm?" Clint slowly turned to look at him. His eyes looked drained and soft. Hell, he looked tired.

"I don't think I can do this. I mean, even if Cap is able to convince Fury to leave me on the team... I don't think I can still work with you guys," Clint admitted. Bruce frowned. "All I can do it shoot things. And even right now... Without the aids, I'm not as good at it as I was before."

"Clint, you are a great tactician. Many of the battle plans that aren’t done by Steve, are actually done by you. Where you station yourself in every battle, high above us all, you can see things that have helped save many lives. Never mind the countless times you have saved each of us," Bruce pointed out. Clint scoffed and knocked another arrow before shooting that one as well. Bruce stepped forward before he could knock another arrow and placed a hand on his. Clint slowly looked over his shoulder at the doctor. "We don't need you as an archer. We just need you."

\----------

Coulson stormed around his office getting further and further upset. He hadn't gotten the report that Clint had left medical which was something he had pretty much ordered Ames to do before the archer left. Now it was the day after Clint and the other Avengers returned to Tony's tower which was quickly being redubbed Avengers Tower. Coulson had just wanted to see Clint one last time before Fury could say that the agent couldn't go see him. While he was on the Helicarrier, Fury couldn't stop Coulson. But now that the archer was gone, Coulson couldn't get permission to leave unless he was going on a mission. He had already tried.

"Agent Coulson?" a soft voice called through the closed office door. Coulson stormed over to it, opened it with a snap of his wrist, and nearly snarled at the agent on the other side. The agent was older then Coulson expected but the young man seemed terrified to be standing before him.

"Yes?" he asked, the anger in his body leaking into his voice. He so did not want to be dealing with someone right now. All he wanted was the ability to go see Clint and make sure he was okay. He hadn't been allowed to see him since the archer's suicide attempt. A fact that Coulson wished he could have rectified but he kept on getting a lot of paperwork that needed to be done quickly. At least, he had until today.

"Director Fury is requesting your presence in his office," the man said, sounding more fearful then he looked. Coulson frowned, wondering why the director didn't call him on his cell or even his office phone. Heck, Fury could have sent an e-mail his way.

"What for?" Coulson questioned, trying to get a fix on what was going on now. The younger agent was too on edge for this just to be a simple little thing. So, maybe he had an idea as to what Fury wanted. But when the agent shrugged his shoulders, Coulson felt dread settle onto his stomach. There were few times that Fury ever asked for Coulson's presence and didn't give some type of warning as to why he was being called. One of those times recently was when he learned about Loki taking over Clint.

"Shall I tell him you are on your way?" the agent softly inquired. Coulson nodded before exiting his office and walking down the hall. Behind him he heard the agent put the call to Fury, saying that he was going to be arriving in a few minutes. Somehow, hearing that made it all that much worse.

It took Coulson less then two minutes before he arrived outside Fury's door. Course it was three more minutes before Coulson finally decided he should get over his worry and just knock on the damned door. After the first knock, the older agent heard Fury tell him to enter. Taking a deep breath and quickly releasing it, Coulson opened the door and entered the office. Fury was sitting behind his desk, looking rather tired. His one good eye was focused on Coulson and nothing else. Coulson glanced away when he noticed that and searched the room. No one else was there.

"Shut the door," Fury muttered. Coulson nodded before turning around to close the door. Once it was closed, Coulson turned back and saw that Fury was holding a hand out to one of the chairs before him. Sighing, Coulson shifted over to it and sat down. The Director gave him a nod before looking over at his computer screen. Silence enveloped the room for a few seconds before Fury began typing on the keyboard.

Coulson waited another few minutes before he felt antsy. Fury was still typing away. Neither man said anything. The older agent shifted slightly in his chair as Fury stopped typing and began scanning the computer screen. Another minute passed and then the Director began typing again. Coulson frowned. Why was he called here if Fury wasn't going to say anything to him? When Fury stopped typing again, Coulson cleared his throat.

"Why am I here, sir?" Coulson asked as Fury turned to look at him. The Director said nothing. Just raised his hand and held up one finger to indicate another second. Coulson sighed but nodded his consent, not that Fury needed it to continue working. Fury smirked at his old friend before focusing on his screen and reading some sort of mission report. It was about now that Coulson realized he had done this same tactic to Clint numerous times. No wonder the archer never had the patience to wait.

Yet again it took a short while before Coulson was getting annoyed. He'd rather be back in his office, pacing back and forth. That just showed how upsetting this whole situation was to the old agent. After so long of having to avoid all the Avengers for fear of them leaving S.H.I.E.L.D, it hurt to not be around them now that everyone knew about him being alive and that they weren't leaving... Why was he being kept from them?

"So, I heard you asked for Agent Barton's release records," Fury suddenly stated while still working on the report that was in front of him. But he did notice that Coulson winced. Fury smirked lightly at Coulson's reaction. He actually hadn't been informed until that very second. Fury just assumed. And he loved when his assumptions were correct.

"I wanted to see him before he left," Coulson admitted, feeling that he shouldn't argue with the Director on this fact. Fury shook his head in dismay at his friend before shutting down the report and looking at him. Coulson frowned. "Why was I not allowed to see him? They know I'm alive now."

"You have other duties now. Barton is not your concern. Your new team is," Fury retorted. Coulson's frown deepened but he didn't argue that he had a new team and was enjoying them. They got their jobs done and didn't back talk as much as Clint used to. It was a good feeling to have that again but at the same time...

"I miss them," Coulson muttered. Fury sighed.

"Them? Or just Barton?" Fury asked.

"All of them. Clint, Natasha, Stark... I barely even spoke to Rogers," Coulson said. Fury nodded. He was one of the few who knew of Coulson's obsession with Steve. Hell, that was one of the main reasons why he knew exactly where to find the trading cards and how to cover them in blood. He was still surprised that Coulson hadn't gotten his revenge for doing that to them. Maybe it was cause the first thing Fury had done after Coulson got back was paying near a million and a half to get one the rarer cards of the collection. "I just wanted to tell him... Goodbye, I guess."

"Request denied." Coulson sighed deeply. He already figured that out. It was rather obvious with how little he was able to interact with the Avengers after they found out the truth. And to make matters worse, none of them even noticed. They were too focused on Clint to realize that Coulson wasn't dealing with them. "Do you understand why I can't have you hanging around them?"

"Honestly, sir. Not really. We know now that they won't break up the Avengers and so they aren't in danger. Hell, they actually looked like they wanted to work with me again," Coulson stated, remembering back to his meeting with them the week prior. While their first run in had not gone well, individually, they all came up to him and told him that they did indeed missed him and would like to work with him. Fury sighed before leaning back in his seat. He had so hoped that Coulson would understand why he could never work with the Avengers. It was bad enough that Fury wanted to allow it, but he couldn't. For all of their sakes.

"Agents Barton and Romanoff have only ever worked well with you. The few times we tried to send them with another handler, they revolted. Now, here they are willingly working with someone else. Rogers may not be a handler, but he is a leader. They work under him just as well as they work under you," Fury began but stopped. Coulson frowned.

"Well, that's good news. But I don't see how that stops me from being the Avengers liaison," Coulson mentioned. Fury leaned forward, putting his elbows on his desk and his head on his knuckles.

"Before the events of Manhattan, the Council went into talks of breaking up your little team."

"Why? I thought they were pleased with our track record."

"Oh, they were. So much so that they wanted to create more teams that were just as close. Barton would have been put under Sitwell. Romanoff under Hill and you would have been assigned two new agents. If none of you could work well with the new teams, the Council would have... Well, fired you," Fury stated, hesitating at the 'fire-ing'. Coulson sighed. It still wasn't really making sense. Since Clint first arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D, the Council had been trying to get rid of him. And it was made even worse when the archer brought in Natasha.

"And?" Coulson asked, having heard these threats so many times that he was getting bored with them. Fury shook his head. Coulson just wasn't getting it.

"It wouldn't be normal-"

"They would kill them. I know. But I've heard this throughout their entire time with this agency. When will the Council come up with something new? And what is the real reason I can't work with the Avengers?"

"The Council doesn't know you're alive." Coulson paused at that. He couldn't have heard that properly. How can the Council not know he's alive? Hill reports to them just as frequently as Fury and Hill would never lie about that. Or would she? But then...

"Does the Council know about the team I'm heading?" Coulson questioned. Fury sighed and his face was buried into his hands. There was a soft muttering that made Coulson frown at his old friend.

"They do. But they think that Ward is the leader," Fury admitted when he noticed Coulson leveling an angry gaze on him. At those words, Coulson went to his feet and began pacing around the room. He couldn't believe that Fury would do this to him. First it was the mandatory vacation in Tahiti with the evil physical therapist then it was keeping his life a secret from everyone under Level 7. And next, not being able to see Clint and Natasha no matter when they arrive at the Helicarrier. But this. This was the last straw.

"So... Do I even technically work for S.H.I.E.L.D?" Coulson softly inquired. Fury visibly winced at the question. As much as Fury wanted to keep Coulson, he wasn't sure how long he could. Slowly, the Director shook his head no. "So... I could... Right now, just go to Avengers Tower, see Clint and you can't punish me?"

"Well..." Fury began, so not wanting to get into this. Coulson leveled a glare on his friend. Fury sighed. "If you left without my permission, I'd have to send a kill order out on you."

"What?"

"You know too much. Though you technically aren't a S.H.I.E.L.D employee right now, you are a danger. You were... Are my right hand man. You know every code, every base, every strategy plan... I can't just let you walk away," Fury explained. Coulson's gaze turned dark.

"So, I'm trapped." Fury looked away. Coulson clenched his fists. "I'm going to pretend that this conversation never happened. But know this. If Clint or any of the other Avengers ever ask to see me, you will bring them to me. Personally."

"I can't."

"Marcus." Fury winced at the name he had been born with. Since becoming Nick Fury, he had only been called Fury. So, hearing Coulson say his old name was hard. Coulson was beginning to frighten him just slightly. "You will let them see me. Or I'll walk. Even if it does mean my death. Again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry this is late. But with the whole server maintenance, I wanted to make sure everyone had a high chance of getting the email saying that I posted.
> 
> Darius is doing well. Spent a lot of this weekend with his grandmother. The longest I've ever spent away from him and when Clint was alive, him as well. It was fine the first night and a little into the second but then it hurt that day. The reason it hurt is that I'm still partly in denial that Clint is gone. My mind keeps telling me that he is in school or he is with the grandparents, so suddenly having Darius gone basically made me freak out. Rationally I knew that Darius was fine and that Clint is gone but emotionally I just kept thinking I lost both kids. I'm going to have to get over this soon... My one true saving grace in all this was writing. Got a few different stories lined up and a sequel series to this in the works. Already halfway through the second story on the sequel series. Got maybe six other stories in the works, one being another series. >_< Too much! But, it keeps me busy when my mind gets trapped on one story, I just jump to another until I can figure out where to go next.
> 
> Anyways, I plan on posting a new chapter on Friday so I'll see you all then!


	15. First Fight

A week passed with everyone getting used to Clint being deaf. Bruce and Tony spent most of their time working on new hearing aids. Ones that wouldn't be effected by an EMP, lightning, battles, explosions, or anything else they could think of. Some devices couldn't fit in Clint's ear canal and so they had to go back to the drawing board. Others hurt Clint's ears to the point that he would try and smash them. So far, they were no closer to getting the perfect hearing aids for their archer.

Pepper and Steve both tried their best to keep Clint happy. But all their efforts just stressed the archer out. No matter what they wanted to do, it just bothered him. They tried games, movies, books, food, shopping and so much more. But all Clint wanted to do was train.

And train he did. If he wasn't in the range then he was in the gym with Natasha, fighting her and seeing how his deafness would affect a fight. They trained with hearing aids and without. They did without as a just in case something happened. Surprisingly, Clint did very well when he didn't have the aids when it came to hand-to-hand fighting. Natasha noted that while it was easier to sneak up on him, something in him always must have warned him that she was coming. Clint refused to mention that he had had hearing issues when he was younger and had learned to be careful in case someone snuck up on him. The hearing issues while younger wasn’t as mentally damaging as now considering he hadn’t had a job, or really a reason to go on.

Thor spent the week working on Clint's situational awareness when he didn't have the hearing aids in. Not that any of it was intentional, it's just that he was the only one out of everyone living in the tower who wasn't adjusting to Clint's newest needs. Thankfully he was also one of the few who could take all of Clint's natural assassin reactions. But it was getting to the point that Thor was competing with Clint's record of going to medical for help. Getting tossed into a metal table with a fragile vase on it can cause a surprising amount of pain that, when not in battle, made him want to get checked. It took a long time before they realized Thor hadn’t ever mentioned pain in battles due to his adrenaline making him forget the pains until he had healed.

Of course this long time of silence had to come to an end at some point. It was that Thursday morning when the group sat down to eat a huge feast for breakfast. Clint, Bruce and Steve had spent over an hour and a half on all the food. Just as they started to eat, JARVIS set off the Avengers alarm.

"J, what's going on?" Tony shouted over the alarm as Steve, Natasha and Clint jumped up from their seats, intent on going to get dressed for the upcoming battle.

"It appears that some type of droids are attacking Central Park," JARVIS informed the group. Nodding, Steve, Natasha and Clint took off to go get ready. Bruce sighed deeply before looking over to Pepper.

"Will you be alright cleaning all this up by yourself?" he questioned, feeling bad that they were being called out. Thor frowned before digging into his plate, intent on getting some more food in his stomach before the battle. Tony smirked, seeing the god eat and deciding that it was a good idea. He began to nibble on some of his own food.

"I'll actually pack it all up so you guys can eat it when you return," Pepper mentioned before standing and grabbing Natasha's plate from beside her. Bruce frowned before grabbing his and Steve's plates and following after her into the kitchen. Once there, Pepper immediately opened a drawer and grabbed some clear plastic to wrap around the plates. "Is Clint going to be fighting with you guys?"

"I doubt it. Why?" Bruce asked as he wrapped the plates he brought in. Pepper glanced over at the table. It took Bruce a few seconds before he looked over as well. Noting the empty seat, he sighed deeply. How was he going to kindly tell Clint that it would be dangerous for him to go? "Oh this is not going to be good."

\----------

Thankfully Bruce wasn't the one who was going to deal with Clint. Sadly, it would have been best if the doctor was the one who dealt with Clint. As the one who did, wasn't the best at 'kindly' stating why Clint couldn't come. Clint was leaving his room when Natasha began to walk by his door. Seeing that he was dressed in his fighting outfit, she froze.

"Clint?" Natasha called, making the archer turn to her. He gave her a soft smile before walking toward the elevator again. It took two seconds for Natasha to become completely furious. How could he be so stupid? Did he even realize that he couldn't go fight, yet? "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Clint hummed as he slowed down to a stop. Again he turned to look at her. This time he was more curious then before. But when his eyes landed on Natasha, he was stunned to see her so furious. And even worse, he had never seen her so mad at him before. He winced, before tilting his head questioningly toward her.

"What. The FUCK. Are. You. Doing?" Natasha growled, enunciating each and every word. Clint stared at her in surprise, unsure what her problem was. Her green eyes narrowed before she stormed toward the archer. He held his ground as he tried to figure out what her problem was. "You are not going."

"What? Why?" Clint cried, shocked. Natasha reached forward quickly and unhooked one of his newest hearing aids from S.H.I.E.L.D. These were small little button like aids that sat behind his ear in hopes of hiding and protecting them better. Clint looked down to her hands and noted the aids before looking back to her face. Her eyes showed that she was wishing that things were different but they weren't and he'd have to get used to that.

"You are a liability right now," Natasha declared. Clint frowned before grabbing the hearing aid and replacing it. Natasha shook her head as she noted that Clint was getting mad at her, but she was still too mad at him to even care.

"Haven't I proven myself in our fights?" Clint snarled. Natasha shook her head.

"One word. Thor," she snapped. Clint's eyes narrowed as he tried to see her point. Then he realized that she meant that Thor would sneak up on him. If Thor could do that, how safe would he be with trained fighters or even a trained assassin in a fight? "I won't let you come."

"It's not your choice!" Clint loudly told her. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"It's not yours either!" she said just as loudly. It was then that the elevator doors opened to reveal Steve. He raised an eyebrow at the two angry assassins before he noticed that Clint was dressed for the fight. Clint spun around to face the Captain and just in time noticed the super soldier's face fall.

"Steve," Clint begged as his own face fell into desperation. His anger at Natasha faded as he realized that he may never get back out into the field. Steve's saddened gaze was enough to give Clint's emotions a full reversal. "You said that you wouldn't kick me off the team!"

"And that's true. I'm not kicking you off the team!" Steve defended but Clint just shook his head. The Captain trusted that Clint could fight without his hearing. In fact, he was sure of it. But, Steve also knew that Clint needed more time to get used to the idea.

"I trusted you. I fucking trusted you!" Clint shouted before spinning around, storming back into his room and slammed the door closed on Steve's upset face. The super soldier turned to look at Natasha for help but she simply shook her head. She didn't want to get into this whole issue at the moment. Nor did they really have time as Steve's comm unit switched on.

“ _Yo! Steve’o, where are you?_ ” Tony's voice called into his ear. Steve frowned as Natasha lead both of them into the elevator. “ _We need to get going! These things are spreading out of Central Park and Fury is flipping his shit._ ”

"We're on our way, Stark," Natasha snarled into her own comm unit as the elevator began to ascend. Steve sighed deeply and looked down to the ground. Guilt was eating at him. He was going to have to trust Clint at some point. Natasha groaned and turned to face the soldier. "We did the right thing. Clint is a liability until we can get the best hearing aids for every fight. Bruce and Tony are working hard on that."

"But, he has been fighting well. He... Well, he seems to have adjusted fine to the whole thing. Maybe-" Steve began but Natasha stopped him. Her eyes told Steve that he had made the right decision.

"Just think of every time that Clint has wandered around without his aids. Now, imagine that instead of Thor it was someone with a gun. Clint would be dead in seconds," Natasha responded. Steve frowned, knowing that he had to agree with her. Clint needed time. Natasha sighed, looking away from the Captain. "He'll be fine. He's just... Just upset right now."

"Yeah. I guess."

\----------

Clint was more then upset. He was furious. His so called friends had promised that his hearing loss wouldn't affect the team but now... Now he couldn't even go into a battle with them. How would it not affect the team if he wasn't there, watching their backs? Bruce said before that he was important. But, could he be the only one that thinks so? No, Natasha is his partner. She trusts him. Yet... She was the first one to say that he couldn't go into this battle. Does that mean that she doesn't trust him now?

"No. I know she trusts me," Clint said to himself. Surprised at his own fear of Natasha's mistrust, Clint reached for his hearing aids to activate the comm that was linked with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers communications, something that someone (Fury and Coulson) demanded to be included in the newest set. It was silent. Clint frowned. Did they somehow find a way to block him? Are the aids not working? He was warned that these aids hadn't been field tested. They were supposed to be working comms, able to withstand an EMP, and supposed to be well hidden. Already he felt they weren't well hidden but considering Bruce and Tony were working on better aids, he told S.H.I.E.L.D that he didn't want any surgery. 

“ _Tony, where are you? I thought you said you’d be on the-_ ” Steve's voice called into his ear before cutting out into static. Clint stiffened. They needed help. Rushing back out of his room, Clint took off for the elevator. He was shocked when it opened on it's own and Pepper stood there. Tears in her eyes.

"Clint," she moaned.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" Clint asked. She sniffed.

"JARVIS informed me that he lost track of Tony." Clint froze, surprised that something that bad could have already happened. The others pretty much just left. How could they have already lost Tony? "Clint, what are we going to do?"

"You are going to do nothing. I... I am going into battle."

\----------

Clint arrived at Central Park just in time to see Natasha get whacked across the pond. Right away he reached for his bow, clicked the button to extend it out, grabbed an arrow and readied his shot on the droid that hit his partner. After a seconds hesitation to make sure he was properly aligned, he took the shot and the arrow hit just behind the neck joint on the droid. It dropped to the ground, shaking.

"Well, that's good to know," Clint muttered to himself as he readied another arrow to go after another droid.

“ _Who the hell took out that droid?_ ” Steve's voice statically called through Clint's aids. Clint smirked and reached back to press the small button to activate the comm part of his aids. Apparently the comm must be distance related rather than simply not working.

"I did," he boldly stated, half wondering if the others would be able to hear him. 

“ _Clint? You aren’t supposed to be out here!_ ” Steve answered back, his voice shocked. Clint's eyes narrowed as he began to scan around for a good vantage point. Finding on a building close to the edge of the park, Clint took off for there.

"Yeah, well. JARVIS informed Pepper that Tony is down and she informed me. So I came to lend a helping hand," Clint retorted in anger. Steve sighed into the comm but didn't comment back. Sadly, someone else did. 

“ _JARVIS did what now? I ain’t down!_ ” Tony cried. Clint stumbled in his run toward his vantage point. He hadn't expected that. Why would JARVIS say that Tony was down if he wasn't? It took a few more minutes before Clint was in position over the battle. Natasha was moving herself closer to Steve and the super solider was doing his best to move closer to her. But it seemed the droids understood that the two needed to be separate. They were a very good fighting force when battling near each other and so the droids wanted to keep them apart.

Tony and Thor were circling around the outskirts of the battle, making sure that the droids stayed in the park and didn't go into the city. Each were on opposite ends, it was a better strategy to keep the droids in check but it also left them vulnerable to being outnumbered. And speaking of being outnumbered. In the middle of the battle was Hulk with so many droids around him that Clint could barely see the green giant. Sighing, Clint prepared to help out the Hulk. 

“ _Clint, I forbid you from fighting!_ ” Steve shouted into the comm. He sounded worried. But the archer ignored it as he grunted before firing five arrows down toward the Hulk's attackers. As each arrow struck, Hulk looked more and more confused before finally he roared in pleasure and began to attack the rest of the droids around him. Clint smirked, glad that someone was pleased that he was here. “ _Clint, do you hear me?_ ”

"I hear you fine, Captain," Clint answered, knocking an arrow before glancing over in Steve's direction. The super solider seemed to have cleared most of the enemies around him and was looking in Clint's general direction. But his distraction was going to cost him. Sneaking up behind the Captain was a lone droid. Clint ground his teeth before setting up his sights and shooting the droid, making sure the arrow skimmed by Steve's head close enough for him to feel the breeze. "You’re welcome."

Steve said nothing in response. He just simply turned to look at the fallen droid behind him. That was enough of a response for Clint. He smiled and looked around the battle for someone else to help. Nearby to his vantage point a small group of droids were trying to escape into the city. Clint smirked and started raining his arrows down onto them. 

“ _Could use some help over here. These droids doing something really strange,_ ” Tony called into the comms. Clint glanced over to Tony's direction. He too noticed that some of the droids were acting weird. They seemed to be grouping together yet at the same time, Clint kept counting the same number of droids. It took a moment more of watching them before Clint saw it. A droid shifted away just right and Clint saw a huge opening in the ground.

"Shit, they're moving underground! They opened a huge hole!" Clint shouted into his aids. A bunch of different voices began to converse into Clint's ears but he couldn't tell what any of them were really saying. Shaking his head in an effort to ignore them, Clint began shooting at the escaping droids. It wasn't long after that Tony joined him in that. Together the two destroyed almost every droid but who knows how many were underground at the moment.

“ _Natasha, Thor, follow me down that tunnel. Tony, I want you and Hulk to deal with the droids in the rest of the park,_ ” Steve commanded. Clint frowned when he didn't hear his name. There was a few seconds pause before Steve spoke again. “ _Clint, I want you to go back to the tower. Now._ ”

"Steve? Are you serious?" Clint cried as he realized what Steve was telling him. Right now Clint was risking everything to be here, to help. But Steve was telling him to leave. Was he really as important as Bruce kept on saying? Will Steve actually be willing to leave him on the team? It honestly doesn't seem like it.

“ _Clint, go back to the tower. You weren’t supposed to be in this battle,_ ” Steve ordered. Clint growled in anger before he felt it. Something was behind him. Spinning around, Clint spotted a woman with blond hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a black leotard, similar to Natasha's and had some small type of bomb in her hands. Winking at Clint, she pressed some type of button before dropping the bomb.

Clint didn't even hear the explosion. He had no chance to get away. It just... Went off. Hell, he had no idea what happened to the woman. She just dropped the bomb, there was a white light, Clint was tossed off the building and he was falling. Thankfully he was fast enough to grab his grappling arrow and fire it before he was too close to the ground. Using the arrow, Clint safely landed on the ground and spun around in time to see a bunch of droids standing there waiting for him.

"Oh, shit," Clint stated, praying that even though he couldn't hear that his comm was still working. "Could use a little help."

Sadly, Clint couldn't hear if there was a response and so he just readied himself for a very uneven fight. He took down three droids with his arrows before he had to start using his bow as a staff. Another two went down before repulser blasts began bombarding the remaining droids. Clint ducked down, curling himself into less of a target and waited until he couldn't see any more flashes. Once he was certain that it was safe, Clint uncurled himself and stood. Tony landed in front of him and stood there for a bit. Clint could only assume he was talking but the genius had left his face plate down.

"No comm," Clint informed the billionaire. Tony nodded before the face plate opened. Clint smiled to him.

"Do you realize how dangerous that was? If I didn't happen to look over here," Tony began before getting upset and spinning around. Clint frowned. Without being able to see the billionaire's face, he had no idea what the man was saying. Huffing in frustration at his own lack of hearing and the fact that his aids were malfunctioning, Clint waited for Tony to turn back around. "-trace elements of an EM pulse. Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Sorry, missed most of that," Clint responded, hoping that Tony would just repeat the important information. Tony sighed.

"There are trace elements of an EMP. I know S.H.I.E.L.D has been working on making sure your aids worked during one. But, I guess that didn't work well for them. I guess I'm asking if they shorted out and hurt you," Tony reiterated. Clint rolled his eyes. Least it wasn’t any more arguing about the situation being dangerous. Of course it was dangerous and even with his hearing, Clint likely would have been trapped just the same.

"I'm fine. It was just like one second they were working, the next I couldn't hear a damned thing," Clint informed Tony. The genius nodded before sighing.

"I'll take note of that for mine and Bruce's aids," Tony said with a deep worried sigh. Clint nodded, wishing that he didn't have to be reminded of his hearing loss. But he knew that that was going to be the main issue. Groaning, Clint reached back for his aids to see the damage. But as he took them off, Tony turned slightly to the side but still in viewing range for the archer. The movement drew Clint’s attention back to the genius’s face. "Well their version failed as well."

"What?" Clint called before seeing Bruce come over. The doc had some type of sheet hanging over his lower half. As much as Tony and he had worked on creating stretchy pants that would shrink back to normal after a Hulk transformation, it still hadn’t been seeming to work. They got it so they would increase in size without breaking. But it never returned to normal size.

"Aids?" Bruce asked, nodding over at Clint. Both Tony and Clint nodded. Bruce sighed before holding out his hand. Clint stepped forward and dropped off the damaged aids. Almost right away, Bruce began looking them over and muttering to himself. Clint ignored the doctor's mutterings and turned his back on the two scientists. Sighing deeply, Clint wandered over to the building he had been using as his vantage point. He began looking for any evidence of the woman who had dropped the EMP bomb.

Clint had to have lost track of time as he searched because he had two seconds to prepare before he was suddenly attacked by something. Falling into instinct, Clint attacked back until he finally saw a flash of red and paused. But the figure kept on attacking and Clint had to defend himself. It took a few minutes before the figure stopped attacking and Clint could see that it was Natasha and she was beyond furious.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous it was for you to be out here in the battle? What would have happened if the comm didn't work? Hell, what if when the EMP went off, your aids shocked you?" Natasha shouted. Clint frowned.

"Everything was fine. I helped," Clint argued. Natasha groaned and tossed her hands into the air.

"You are so stupid! Steve almost got attacked because he was worried about you! Hell, I almost got killed!" Natasha snapped. Clint rolled his eyes slightly. He didn't really understand why it was so bad. Everything worked out fine, so what was wrong? But, then again, if Steve and Natasha had really been distracted by him being there, then maybe it wasn't the best idea for him to be in the battle. Course the real issue that bothered him was that if they were distracted by him being in the battle, that meant that they didn't trust him. Or maybe it was that they feared that his deafness was more of a hindrance then he first thought. That hurt more than hearing them ordering him away.

"I don't see what the big issue is. I saved Steve and you almost got killed even before I arrived," Clint told her. Natasha growled before spinning on her heel and walked away. As she left, Steve came toward him. His blue eyes were filled with anger and worry. Clint frowned, he so didn't want another person yelling at him for what he thought was right.

"What were you thinking?" Steve snapped at Clint. Clint held up his hand.

"I don't want to hear it," Clint said before walking off, not even thinking about what that implied. Steve watched him with a sigh and wished he knew what to do. He wished he knew how to convince Clint that he needed to take time away to get more used to being deaf. Someone needed to find the proper aids for fixing the archer. It wasn’t fair that Steve had to keep Clint away from fights. But even now, the whole group had no real way of communicating with Clint. The archer would have to wait until the hearing aids were perfected or at least until there was another way to talk to Clint when his aids are out, even if Clint didn’t like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you that I would post on Friday, lol.
> 
> Darius is doing well. Been a happy kiddo lately. Unless he had to get some medication applied to his legs and arms. Then he screams like we are trying to murder him. What's worse in my opinion is that the meds don't seem to be working all that well. Damn Covid-19 making it hard to actually get him checked out. Course, he could also be happy cause I've been too tired to stay downstairs a lot of the time...


	16. #NewYork, #CentralPark, #Kidnapping

The group returned to the tower with very little communication. Which was surprising considering that Tony and Thor usually always wanted to talk after a good battle like the one that they just had. When they arrived at the tower, Pepper was waiting for them. The second she saw Tony, she rushed over to give him a hug. He stumbled back as she jumped into his arms which made a few of the others to chuckle. Clint shifted himself a bit to be able to see both Pepper’s and Tony’s lips.

"Whoa, Peps. What's up?" he asked. Pepper looked up at him, tears were pouring out of her eyes.

"JARVIS said he couldn't hear from you! I was so worried!" Pepper told him. Tony frowned.

"I don't even get why JARVIS would have done that. I was in contact with him through the whole battle," Tony responded. Clint snorted and left. Natasha snarled and stalked after him. Pepper frowned, wondering what Tony meant. Steve, Bruce and Thor watched the two with curiosity. Then it hit Steve. JARVIS had been the one trying to get Clint to go to the battle. One of the best ways to do that would have been to say that one of the other Avengers was in trouble and the easiest one to do would be Tony.

"You don't think that JARVIS would have sent Clint into the battle, would he?" Steve questioned. Tony furrowed his brows in concentration. It was possible, but what reason would the AI have for sending Clint into battle? No one noticed that JARVIS hadn’t replied.

"I'll have to ask," Tony decided, glancing up to one of JARVIS’s sensors. Steve frowned.

"Will he actually answer?" Steve inquired. Tony smirked and shrugged. He had no idea what JARVIS would do. With that the billionaire wrapped his arm around Pepper's waist and practically dragged her off toward his lab. Bruce stepped closer to Steve as he watched the other two leave. Thor shook his head and turned to go to the living room. He left before hearing Bruce speak again.

"Do you think JARVIS may have done it to keep S.H.I.E.L.D from trying to fire Clint?"

\----------

Clint didn't head for his room like his mind first told him to do. He knew there he would be chased down by Natasha. And if not her, then another Avenger or even Pepper. Right now, he just could not deal with them. Any of them. So instead, Clint took the elevator all the way down to the lobby and walked out of the tower without a second thought. He barely even noted that he was still in his fighting outfit.

Thankfully, outside of Stark towers; since the Avengers first appeared, fans of all ages have dressed as various Avengers. So him leaving the tower, dressed in his own outfit wasn't too strange a sight to most of the crowd there. Hell, many of them didn't even give him a second glance. Not that Clint could have heard if someone called out to him.

No, instead, Clint just walked through the throng and vanished down the street. He didn't stop. Just kept walking. No destination in mind. Clint just knew that he had to get away from the tower. The further he got away, the better he felt. It wasn't until he was standing in the sun that he realized that he had gone all the way back to Central Park.

Already, S.H.I.E.L.D had finished cleaning up all of the droids from the battle before and the park was reopened to the public. Clint avoided the main area of the battle to avoid the memories. Instead he scouted the outside edge of the park. Not once did he stop. Clint just kept on walking the outer perimeter of the park, almost like he was doing laps.

By his third lap, Clint sensed it. Someone was following him. And it didn't seem like it was one of the other Avengers. Clint tried not to tense as he continued walking. Without a way to know whether the person following him was friend or foe, he'd have to wait. Two more laps were done before Clint spun around to face the person, but he acted like he was just switching his path for some different views. The person was someone he didn't know.

Clint took two steps towards the strange man. He tried to not look at the man but he was curious as to why he was following him. Clint prayed that it was just that he was being paranoid, something he wasn't used to being until he lost his hearing. But when he was on his third step towards the man, the man turned away from Clint and began walking toward the center of the park. Clint froze and watched the man walk away. It was because of this, he missed the second person coming up behind him and hit the butt of a gun against the back of his head so hard, Clint dropped.

\----------

"Sir, I do not see why you believe that I was trying to kill Agent Barton," JARVIS said as Tony continued to look through the AI's codes. The billionaire was trying hard to figure out why JARVIS thought it was a good idea to send a deaf man into a fight. "I've been studying Agent Barton during training and he was doing just as well as he was when he was hearing."

"I was holding my punches," Natasha commented as she came into the lab in time to hear JARVIS's defense. Tony jumped in shock at hearing the assassin's voice. Natasha smirked. She loved that reaction from the genius. It was rewarding to know that he was frightened of her. Especially considering she used threats to stop him from truly annoying her.

"I understand that Agent Romanoff. But in the past few bouts that Agent Barton has had with you, you were not holding back. In fact, even Captain Rogers and Sir Odinson were having trouble fighting with Agent Barton," JARVIS stated matter-of-factly. Natasha rolled her eyes. Of course the AI would be analyzing each and every one of them to make sure they were in top form. That would always be something that bothered Natasha. Though she would never admit it, she just didn't like that the AI could potentially know about her more then she did.

"And that’s not creepy?" Steve asked as he entered the room. Tony jerked away from the computer he had been working at to see not only had Steve now entered but Bruce and Thor had as well. And now everyone was staring at him. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well..." Tony began but then stopped, unsure how to proceed.

"I did not intend to kill anyone on the team or even to get Agent Barton injured. In fact I was merely trying to help Agent Barton," JARVIS answered for himself. Steve frowned and glanced at Tony, wondering what the AI meant. Tony rolled his eyes, feeling that JARVIS may have been hacked or even had a virus. Bruce shifted his weight between his feet, trying to think why JARVIS felt Clint needed help. Natasha sighed, wishing that the AI would just simply state why.

"I do not understand," Thor called.

"Agent Barton has mentioned that he doesn't believe he belongs on this team. Since loosing his hearing, Agent Barton has been waiting for any of you or any agent of S.H.I.E.L.D to remove him. Agent Barton even mentioned to me in a private conversation that if Captain Rogers did not claim he wouldn't remove Agent Barton from the Avengers, then Director Fury would be forced to commence with a kill order."

"What?" Steve shouted, shocked that Fury would kill Clint just for becoming deaf. Natasha winced, having known and nearly forgotten about that rule. Of course, it was written during a time that certain disabilities could not be fixed as easily as today. But Fury had been forced to follow the rule with other agents and seeing as the Council doesn't like Clint anyways, it was just a matter of time before they make Fury give the order. Training or not.

"It's an old rule. One more meant for a high level agent who lost a limb, became paralyzed, blind, or other such disabilities. In the past, that also included deafness but since technology has improved, Fury has been working to change that rule. It hasn't been going well," Natasha mentioned. Steve growled angrily at the situation. “Mostly he’s been shifting those people into other jobs but the higher the level the harder it is to hide them.”

"Agent Barton and I have felt that if he missed out on too many missions due to his deafness, the Council would see it as him being removed from the team," JARVIS started to explain.

"But that doesn't mean send him out on the first mission that comes!" Bruce screamed into the ceiling. Tony winced at the sound. Steve spun to stare at the doctor in shock. Thor took a step away from him, fearing that the Hulk would be coming out. Natasha placed a hand on her gun.

"I do not understand," JARVIS answered.

"This is new for all of us! We need time to get used to it. It also helps if we _know_ that Clint is in the battle so we can watch for him," Bruce replied, sounding a lot calmer then he had only seconds before. Natasha relaxed her hand as Thor shifted back to his original position. Both were still wearily watching Bruce. Tony simply shook his head and turned to look at the Captain. Steve sighed, releasing the breath he had been holding. Bruce barely noticed.

"Look, JARVIS did it in an effort to help. We now have told him that he wasn't. Can we be done with this?" Tony snapped, feeling rather defensive for his AI. He mentally ignored the fact that he was the one who was first going through the AI's codes trying to see if JARVIS had it out for the archer. Everyone dropped into silence for a moment before finally Steve nodded.

"I apologize for my mistake. In the future, I hope to act more accordingly," JARVIS responded when he was certain that the group had mostly forgiven him. Though he was a very intelligent system, he still made mistakes. Most of them revolved around the humans he has to deal with as they are always hypocritical.

"Kay, so we done bashing on my AI?" Tony asked.

"We weren't bashing," Steve defended. Tony rolled his eyes.

" _We_ pretty much came in ready to snap at him. JARVIS was doing what he thought was right," Tony growled, making the idea that he had done so as well as clear as he could. Steve sighed. He so didn't want to get into another fight with the genius.

"It is fine, sir. I understand that I may have taken things too far. It will not happen again," JARVIS intoned, sounding almost defeated. "But Sir, I have an incoming message and a warning."

"Don't want to hear it. Want to go upstairs and drink to forget this whole thing," Tony called before standing and heading toward the door. Natasha rolled her eyes and shook her head before moving to be the first one out. Thor smiled, liking the idea of drinking alcohol. Though he could not find anything as strong as Asgardian Mead, Tony had enough stuff stocked that he could get the same strength with just more drinks. Bruce sighed, wishing that Tony wouldn't automatically go to drinking.

"Who is the message for, JARVIS?" Steve diplomatically asked. Tony rolled his eyes and groaned.

"The Avengers."

"Okay. Who is it from?" Steve questioned.

"General Thaddeus Ross, Captain Rogers," JARVIS replied. Tony froze. Natasha turned around, slowly. Her eyes focused on Bruce. Thor tilted his head to the side, confused as to who this 'Ross' was. Steve frowned, unsure who Ross was and why he had a message for the group. Bruce had gone pale.

"J? What's the message?" Tony softly inquired.

"He wants the Avengers to... 'Hand over the monster, in exchange for the archer.'" JARVIS answered. “His words.”

"The archer?" Tony muttered.

"JARVIS, where is Clint?" Natasha called, stepping back into the room.

"Agent Barton left the tower almost as soon as you all arrived," JARVIS replied. Natasha cursed under her breath.

"Do you know where he was last spotted?"

"There is video footage of Agent Barton getting taken while at Central Park," JARVIS answered.

"Some ass recorded it on their phone and then posted it on You Tube?" Tony snarled, standing before a holo-screen with the video loaded. The saying above the video block read: **Loser gets taken in park**. Tags were: **New York, Central Park, Kidnapping** , and the person's log name. Tony clicked play and the video started up.

_"Hey, man, look at this!" some random guy called the second the video started. The phone image shot up from the ground all the way up to show Clint, still in uniform, unconscious on the ground. Two men were surrounding him. One held a gun in his hand and it looked like the butt of it had been slammed into Clint's head. He was blond with dull green eyes and wearing mismatching joggers clothes. The other man had black hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. He was dressed in a suit._

_"Dude, what the fuck is happening?" another man asked. Neither of the men speaking were in the video image._

_"I don't know, man," the first voice replied._ Natasha snarled at the two men recording. They were so naive that it almost killed her. She almost wished she could find them just to smack them upside the head. Everyone else wished that the guys called the cops. The video continued to show the blond leaning down toward Clint and picking him up. He draped Clint over his shoulder and turned to walk away but his eyes focused on the people recording.

_"Shit, I think he sees us," the second voice called before the video shifted to the ground again and showed the men moving away from the scene. When it was lifted back off the ground, the image was being shot through a bush. The black haired man was now missed but the blond still had Clint over his shoulder and he was walking toward the main street. "Think we're safe?"_

_"I don't know, man. Where did that other guy go?"_

_"I don't know. I thought you were watching him!"_ Natasha shook her head at the two fools. The video then showed a black van pulling up. Tony quickly typed something down on a separate computer. The video showed up there at that exact point and he began zooming in on it. Natasha smirked. She didn't even have to tell the genius what to do. Bruce shifted over to stand beside Tony, wanting to help. Steve and Thor were focused on the video, unsure what they can do to help.

_"No!" the first voice cried sounding rather panicky._

_"Hello," a new voice answered. The video spun around but before it could focus there was a scream and then the video cut out._

"What happened?" Steve nearly shouted when the image went black.

"That man in the suit found them. I'm almost surprised that they were able to keep the video," Natasha growled, her hands were twitching from the knowledge that she could currently do nothing. Steve nodded his agreement at that.

"Ross wanted me to see it," Bruce softly answered them. Natasha raised an eyebrow as Steve shook his head in disgrace. Thor frowned.

"Why would he want that?" the god asked. Bruce turned to look at the Thunderer.

"He's always wanted me to suffer. Especially since he found out I was about to date his daughter before... Well, you know," Bruce lamely stated. Thor's frown deepened. He swore that he would never understand Midgardians.

"You dated Betsy?" Tony called, incredulously. Bruce rolled his eyes. No matter how many times the doc had corrected Tony, the genius still messed up the name. Then again, if the person didn't have a good name, or a nickname that Tony created, the billionaire tended to forget the person's name.

"Correction, 'about' to date her. Betty had actually planned a celebration dinner that night... I still don't even know where it was supposed to be," Bruce admitted. No one spoke for a moment until the computer dinged.

"Sir, the vehicle is owned by a General Ross and has been reported stolen as of two minutes ago," JARVIS reported. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Plausible deniability," Natasha snarled before storming toward the door. But she didn't leave the room. Just began pacing.

"Is there anyway we can get to Ross?" Steve questioned, moving so he leaned over Tony's shoulder to stare at the computer screen. Tony frowned at the closeness and moved the screen over to the holo-screen. Steve rolled his eyes before backing away to stare at the holo-screen.

"We could always just attack him," Tony suggested, sounding like he really wanted to do just that. Natasha shook her head.

"Won't work," she stated. Tony raised his eyebrow as he turned to look at her. She sighed and stopped pacing. "Ross is good. He's done so many illegal acts in trying to get Bruce that just attacking him will look bad on us, not him. Actually, it would make it easier for Ross to get a hold of Bruce."

"And we don't want that," Steve assured when he saw Bruce's panicked expression. Bruce nodded before glancing around the room. Thor gave him a strong smile, showing his support in helping Bruce as much as possible. Tony's face showed that he was surprised that Bruce was even asking. Natasha rolled her eyes before nodding.

"But what about Clint?" Bruce questioned. Everyone turned to look at Natasha. But he wasn’t her who answered. Steve did.

"He's a trained agent. Deaf or not, he can handle himself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius has been excited the past few days. We found some kittens in our shed beside the house. As the weather was really hot and we were getting overwhelmed by the heat in the shed, we caught them and brought them inside. Now they are hanging out in the master bathroom. Course, we got the kittens but we were unable to catch the mother. Thankfully the kittens look old enough to be separated from their mother but now we gotta figure out how to catch mama.


	17. Priceless

Clint came to a lot slower than he was used to. His head was throbbing so much more than normal. He remembered getting hit in the back of his head and dropping unconscious but he didn't think it was hard enough to cause any lasting damage. Then again, this was the first time he had been hit hard enough to be knocked out since he went deaf. Could that have caused such an issue? Maybe he was actually too big a liability.

Opening his eyes, Clint looked around. No one was in the room with him at the moment. Which was a good thing. Clint always hated waking up to someone staring at him. Well... A stranger staring at him. If he knew the person and liked them to any degree, he was fine. Otherwise, he hated it. The room was barren. More than likely a storage room that was emptied just for the use of holding him. This fact was proven further when Clint noticed there wasn't even a window. A small vent was in the middle of the ceiling and way too small for him to fit through. Not sure what to think of that, Clint moved on. Before him was the door, something that pleased Clint considering he'd have to focus on the person's mouth to understand what they were saying and with the door there, he’d be able to respond right away. If he wanted too.

The chair he was sitting on was a solid metal chair. It's silver finish reflected off the overhead light when he shifted to look at it. Each ankle was tied tightly to the front chair leg closest to it. His arms were pulled behind his back and zip ties were used to keep his wrists together. Tugging them he felt two styles. One tie that covered both wrists and then two ties covering each wrist individually before they intersected with each other. His chest and forearms were strapped down with some type of cable. Testing it, he realized that it was strong enough that pretty much only Cap, Hulk, Thor or Tony in the Iron Man suit could break it.

"Why did it have to be me?" Clint sighed. Not hearing his own voice was a shock. Shaking his head, Clint wondered if he'd ever be used to the feeling of deafness. It was sort of weird. The first time he was in such a normal situation without the use of hearing. Well, normal for a kidnapping/interrogation. But wait... "I wasn't on a mission."

The door opened. Clint's eyes jumped up to the person entering and was surprised to recognize him. It was General Thaddeus Ross. The General smiled at Clint while he finished saying something. Clint barely could read the man's mouth in time to catch the last word.

"...mission," Ross said. Clint raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what Ross wanted. Was there a question there? Or was he answering Clint's statement. Unsure how to respond, Clint just stared at the General. Ross's smile dropped. "I know you understand English. And I've heard you tend to be very talkative."

"So is this an interrogation? Cause normally it starts out more painful then this," Clint smartly retorted, covering that he didn’t know what Ross had asked. Ross's smile returned, making Clint want to roll his eyes but the archer feared that if he did so, he'd miss something. After a pause, the General laughed and turned away from Clint. The archer frowned. He had no idea if Ross was talking or not. Oh, this was going to suck. Ross paced around the room at least seven times before he stopped and looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Each turn around the archer, Ross didn't once face Clint long enough for him to figure out one word. Ross raised his eyebrows in expectation of some sort of answer. Clint gave the General a huge smug smile. That got him a punch to the gut. "Son of a bitch!"

"Do you think this is funny? With that-" Ross turned away. A second later he turned back. "Loose?" Clint blinked his eyes rapidly trying to figure out where Ross was going with his question. It was too long of a pause. Ross's fist met Clint's cheek. Groaning, Clint looked up to see Ross saying something but his mind was a little too jumbled to pick up more than just 'pay.' At that, Ross took his leave.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Clint softly cursed, laying his head down onto his chest. He almost couldn't wait for Ross to return.

\----------

"What do you mean Cli... Barton is missing?" Coulson nearly screamed into the cell phone against his ear. Oh this one agent was sure to be the death of him. Not ten minutes after going off again with his new team, Coulson was called by Hill. She quickly reported the Youtube video of Clint getting taken. Not waiting a minute for Hill to answer him, he moved over to his computer and began loading up the footage. To say he was shocked at what he saw would be an understatement. He was appalled.

"As you can see from the video, he was taken... So he's not so much as missing but..." Hill tried soothing but Coulson wanted none of it. Kidnapped is still missing. Missing meant they had no idea where he was. Kidnapped... Well, it was sort of the same thing just a tighter definition of the term. And one that meant a higher chance of danger and death in their field or work.

"Do we know who took him?" Coulson growled into the phone, trying hard to reign in his anger at the situation. Hill sighed into her end making Coulson close his eyes and fear the worst.

"That's the weird bit," Hill responded before pausing. Coulson waited a few seconds but Hill didn't add on.

"Weird?" Coulson pressed. Again Hill sighed.

"We believe the men taking Barton are Army officers working under... General Ross," Hill explained. Coulson frowned as the door to his office opened and Skye walked in. She opened her mouth to say something but Coulson held up his hand to stop her before trying to wave her away. She frowned before sticking her tongue out at him and turning around to leave.

"General Ross? What would he want with Barton?" Coulson wondered aloud.

"I assume it's because of the Hulk. Barton was seen fighting by his side," Hill retorted, not understanding that Coulson was talking to himself.

"So Ross wants to use Barton to get to Bru... Banner," Coulson stated. Hill snickered.

"You can call them by first name. I don't mind," she told him, humor coloring her voice. Coulson glared at his cell phone wishing it was a video phone so that Hill could see he wasn't amused. But her soft chuckles that slipped through the airwaves allowed Coulson to know that she knew. "But yes, that is what we are assuming. We have no proof of such as of right now. But you know them."

"If one of them is threatened then they'll handle it and S.H.I.E.L.D will get no information," Coulson said. Hill hummed in agreement. Sighing deeply, Coulson dropped his head into his free hand as he tried to think this situation over. After a few seconds he realized something. "What do you think Ross will do when he finds out about Clin... Barton's hearing loss?"

"Honestly? He is very hard core into disabilities. Barton's... Loss is a big issue. Not just as part of the army but mostly every aspect. It's been said that he'd kill his own mother if she became disabled. So Ross will do something big. I just hope the Avengers can deal with it before it goes to far," Hill mentioned. Coulson nodded before realizing that Hill couldn't see him and so he hummed. "Ross wouldn't kill Barton. Would he?"

\----------

Clint stretched his neck back and forth in an effort to crack his bones. Everything was beginning to ache from being forced into the position he was in. Groaning, Clint finally got the loud crack (sense of pained relief) he wanted and then relaxed his chin down on his chest. It had been a while since Ross left the archer to his own devices. At first Clint wasn't concerned but as time passed, he couldn't help but wonder what Ross was doing.

"Hello?" Clint cried out to the door. If there was an answer, Clint couldn't hear it. Smiling, he called out again, this time he extended the 'o' sound. Again, nothing that Clint could tell. Clint proceeded to call out five more times before the door opened and Ross stepped into the room again. He was flanked by two other guards.

"What?" Ross snarled, facing the archer. Clint smirked.

"Thought I'd be a bit more talkative is all," he sarcastically answered. Ross quirked an eyebrow up in surprise. Clint could tell that the general was unsure if he was speaking the truth or not. But Clint was being truthful. Well, as long as Ross spoke to him while facing him.

"Somehow I doubt that," Ross finally determined. Clint smirked and nodded his head while tilting to the side.

"You can believe whatever you want," Clint countered. Ross snickered before stepping forward.

"You've already learned the punishment for answering incorrectly," Ross snarled. Clint nodded, remembering the punch to his stomach and cheek. If he could have, Clint would have rubbed at his cheek which was showing a lovely bruise, not that the archer could see it. But Ross could and he was proud of his work. Backing away, Ross looked to the guards that came in with him. Clint could only see half of Ross's mouth so he just assumed he was speaking to them only when they nodded and left the room. Ross faced him once again. "So, lets try this again."

"Yes, lets," Clint stated. Ross rolled his eyes, wishing now that he hadn't provoked Clint into wanting to talk. The General turned away from Clint for a moment so he could walk toward Clint's side. Clint followed Ross as best as he could and when the General turned back to look at him, Clint realized he had been talking the entire time.

"...monster locked up," Ross finished. Clint took a second to figure out what Ross was saying before his eyes darkened and narrowed. Ross looked slightly taken aback.

"Bruce is not a monster. Do you not realize that when you couldn't find him there wasn't a single Hulk incident until Manhattan? And even then, it was Bruce's choice to change and so the Hulk was actually helpful? Or how about how he saved Iron Man?" Clint challenged. Ross laughed and leaned in close to Clint's face.

"What about the thousands he killed during the first few years as the Hulk? Once a monster always a monster," Ross growled. Clint snorted, wishing so much that he could tell the general about his own past as an assassin before S.H.I.E.L.D even knew about him.

"So then that makes you a monster," Clint responded, a slight smile on his face. Ross frowned, not seeing where Clint was going with this line of thinking. Clint shook his head, missing Ross ask 'what.' "Before you were a general you were a grunt. Just going around killing people-"

"In war! I was ordered to kill those people! And I'd do it again in a heartbeat!" Ross screamed before spinning on his heel and stormed around the room. Clint could tell that the General was ranting and raving about what Clint said but Ross was so aggravated that he kept on pacing and Clint couldn't keep watch on his face. Finally he stopped walking about the room and glared at Clint with such hatred that the archer almost felt like wincing away. But Clint held the general's gaze, if only to see what he was saying. "What about you?"

"I know I'm a monster. I am useless, worthless, and pretty much non-existent. But Bruce... No, Hulk is not a monster. He is almost like a child," Clint retorted. Ross's face morphed into one of confusion. Clint shook his head and looked away from Ross before his eyes slowly trailed back. "Hulk has a child like mind with too much power. But with the Avengers, he is learning."

"Learning to be more destructive. Hell, that beast lives with Tony fucking Stark!" Ross snarled. Clint sighed.

"Hulk's experiences in this world were painful. He was chased and attacked. Now with the Avengers he is getting better. He isn't chased, he's taught."

"What gave you the right to try and teach him?" Ross growled, backing away from Clint. Clint's eyes narrowed.

"What gave you the right to condemn him?" Clint asked.

"The destruction of his lab, the lives he took, and for endangering my daughter," Ross countered. Clint's eyes narrowed.

"Did you ever once think that maybe it wasn't Hulk that damaged the lab? Maybe there was an actual explosion?" Clint questioned. Ross's eyes darkened before he spun away from Clint. Clint sighed, knowing that he wouldn't know what Ross was doing until the General calmed down. But Ross wasn't going to calm down in the same room as Clint. Instead, he spun around so quickly that Clint barely noticed until the General's fist was in the archer's face. The punch was so powerful that Clint and his chair toppled over. Clint quickly became too out of it to even see Ross standing before him, screaming something. Then there was a hit to Clint's stomach.

Clint coughed as pain ripped through him. His stomach violently retched but nothing came out. But the contraction of his lower region did hurt even more. There was almost a grinding sensation in his lower ribs making Clint believe Ross had at least broken one. Clint let out a soft groan as Ross's face morphed into surprise.

"Can you even hear me?" Ross mouthed as a test, not that Clint could tell. Clint's eye narrowed as he tried not to show his surprise and horror at the General finding out. But that was enough of an answer for Ross. He laughed, spinning away. Clint frowned, wondering what was going on. It wasn't until Ross looked back at Clint with a smile that Clint realized he had messed up. ‘ _Oh, shit._ ’ "Oh, this is perfect."

"Ross?" Clint called but Ross ignored him and spun on his heel. Clint could only watch as the General left and to his horror, Clint realized that Ross was going to use this against Bruce. "Shit."

\----------

Tony sat back in his seat in shock. It hadn't even been a day and already Clint's secret had been found out. How the hell was that possible? Ross shouldn't have been able to figure it out that quickly. But what worried Tony even more was that Ross was threatening to release this news to the public if Bruce didn't hand himself over. Tony knew what Bruce would do. He'd go to Ross and pray that Ross would indeed let Clint go. Bracing himself for the consequences, Tony deleted the video message that Ross had sent.

"Sir, are you sure that was wise?" JARVIS suddenly intoned through the lab. Tony sighed.

"I can only hope J. I can only hope," Tony admitted. Slowly, the billionaire stood up and headed toward the door to his lab not noticing that JARVIS took that moment to remove the file from the ‘trash’ and hide it in another server. The genius sighed again, wishing that he could go upstairs with some sort of answer. After realizing that there wasn't much they could do to help Clint, Fury had called. Steve, Bruce and Natasha had headed upstairs to deal with that while Thor went up to go find something to attack as he couldn't sit around and do nothing. Tony stayed in the lab, trying to figure out where Ross would have brought Clint and held him. Not that it would make a difference knowing, but somehow Tony thought it might help.

"Stark?" called a now familiar voice. Tony turned back toward the door and noticed Steve standing there. The Captain looked really worried. Tony sighed for a third time, feeling as if this whole experience was slowly draining him. He shook his head. Steve frowned and looked to the ground.

"What did all high and mighty want?" Tony asked. Steve smirked at the name.

"He wanted to know why Clint got caught and what we were planning on doing about it," Steve answered. Tony nodded.

"And what did you say?" Tony questioned. Steve looked down toward the ground. Tony frowned, knowing now what Steve's response had been. "How pissed in Natasha?"

"Not as bad as I expected. Actually, she even agreed with every point that I made to Fury," Steve answered. Tony shook his head as Steve smirked. "Then again, she did leave the room as soon as Fury ended the call. And I haven't seen or heard from her since."

"How long ago was the call?" Tony inquired. Steve pointedly looked at the clock that was on the other side of lab. Tony slowly turned to look and noticed that it had been almost half a day. How had the time gone so fast? Tony couldn't even remember what he had been doing that took that long. Hell, all he had been doing is sitting at his computer helping JARVIS go through the video files trying to track the van that took Clint and going through buildings that could potentially hold the S.H.I.E.L.D agent. "How is Bruce?"

"Well... He told Fury that he'd give himself over to Ross if it came down to it, but Fury agreed with us. None of us want to lose Bruce," Steve replied.

"But nor do we want to lose Clint." Steve nodded, unsure of what to do in this situation. The only answer that was currently available to the group was losing one of the two Avengers. It was a no win situation for them. And no one could be the deciding vote on which one they'd rather lose. "So, we wait until Ross announces... Whoops."

"Announces what?" Steve called. Tony looked away from Steve, trying to hide. Steve grabbed the billionaire's arm and held him in place. Frowning, Tony turned to glare at the hand. "Tony."

"Ross figured out that Clint is deaf," Tony finally responded. Steve hissed before letting go of Tony. The genius turned to fully face the captain. "Ross sent a video message saying that if Bruce wasn't with him in twenty-four hours then he'd go public with the knowledge of Clint's hearing loss."

"We can't allow that to happen."

"I don't want to tell Bruce." Steve sighed and spun away from Tony. Mentally he tried to figure out what to do. But there was no simple answer to this.

"Nor do I. He'd take off," Steve agreed. Tony nodded. Nobody wanted that. Bruce couldn't willingly sacrifice himself. They just wouldn't allow it.

"What do we do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a bit of a rough week for me...
> 
> Darius has been doing well. Getting overly tired a lot and extremely cranky but I can't complain as the same thing has been happening to me. Hubby's job reopened on Wednesday. Not that one could really tell as no one visited... Then again, considering he works in a mall that is on it's last leg, not many people visited to begin with. But, now it's gonna make it difficult for me to write one again. Really doesn't help that my mind has been blanking on nearly every story I have. Finished one recently and debating when I want to post it. I don't know... I'll think on it.


	18. News Bulletin

Bruce sighed deeply as he leaned back against the wall of the hall. He was standing outside of Tony's lab. Actually, he had been standing out there since Steve had entered and begun talking to Tony. So he had heard everything. As much as it pained him to admit it, Clint was more important to the team than he was, even with the hearing loss. So, he had to leave if it meant that Clint could come back. Never mind that Ross would announce to the world about Clint's deafness. Deciding it was for the bed for the team, Bruce headed for the elevator. As he got inside and clicked to go down to the lobby, Bruce was starting to regret his decision.

"Dr. Banner, is there anything I can do to stop you from this course of action?" JARVIS inquired from his speaker above, not allowing the elevator to move. Bruce looked down to the ground, trying to hide he face from the AI's sensors.

"No JARVIS. There isn't," Bruce answered. There was a long pause before the elevator began to slowly move. Bruce smirked. JARVIS wasn't letting the machine go at full speed. He wouldn't be surprised if JARVIS wouldn't open the doors once they reached ground level.

"We will all sorely miss you. And I am certain that Sir would fight his hardest to get you back," JARVIS admitted. Bruce gave a light laugh. He was certain of that as well. But Ross had the backing of the president. There wasn't much that Tony could do to fight that.

"Thanks, JARVIS," Bruce told the AI.

"I wish that there was a better action to take against this," JARVIS mentioned. Bruce sighed. "Kidnapping is against the law."

Bruce froze. Clint's image was on the web of when he got taken. He was still in uniform. And Tony made sure to save Ross's first message where he literally threatened to use Clint against Bruce. If those video's found the right people, then maybe Ross could be put down before this becomes and even bigger issue. They could order that the general stand down. Slowly a smile formed on Bruce' face.

"JARVIS! You are amazing! Bring me back up to Tony's lab!" Bruce nearly shouted as he faced the nearest sensor. JARVIS's response was silent. All that happened was the elevator stopped before rapidly rising. Bruce smiled as he realized that this had been the AI's plan all along. Just before the elevator doors opened, Bruce found he just had to ask. "How long have you known that we could have gone to Ross's superiors to get Clint back?"

"I do not wish to answer, Dr. Banner," JARVIS answered. Bruce's smile widened.

"This whole time, then?" This time JARVIS didn't answer. Bruce's smile turned into a laugh before he exited the elevator and rushed toward Tony's lab to see Tony sitting at his computer with Steve standing over his shoulder.

"Tony!" Bruce cried into the room. Both men jerked in surprise before turning to look at the doc as he entered the room. Tony gave the other scientist a curious look while Steve frowned at the interruption. "Can you get a hold of someone who is higher up then Ross and explain what he is doing?"

"Uh... I can try... Wait, are you thinking that they could order Ross to stop?" Tony questioned. Bruce nodded with a smile. Steve's frown slowly disappeared as he wondered if it could be as simple as that. "That... Yeah, I can do that."

"Good, get on that then," Steve ordered as if Tony wasn't already turning back to computer to start working on it. "How long could that take?"

"Well, first I have to figure out how many there are. Then I have to figure out who to go to first. After that I have to get in contact with the person-" Tony began listing.

"It could be a while," Bruce clarified. Steve nodded.

"Then I'll get a message to Ross saying that Bruce isn't in the tower currently but we've sent a message to him," Steve said. Tony paused before slowly spinning to look at Steve, still typing on the computer.

"The great and honorable Captain America is going to lie? Hell must have frozen over. The world is ending!" Tony jokingly called not seeing Steve's disapproving gaze. Bruce smirked before nodding his thanks to Steve as he stepped forward to force the genius to spun back to his monitor. Steve nodded back and left. Tony stopped working and turned to face Bruce with a large smirk on his face. "I thought he'd never leave."

"Why?" Bruce asked, sounding very worried now. Tony's smirk, if possible, grew larger.

"So, J told me you were going to leave," Tony nonchalantly mentioned as he turned back to the computer which was already filling up with names. JARVIS must have been looking long before hand because some names were highlighted and numbered by priority.

"Uh... Yeah," Bruce admitted, feeling a bit sheepish considering how easy it may look to be to get Clint back without losing Bruce. Tony said nothing for a minute which made Bruce feel really uneasy.

"I want to say thanks... But I also want to call you the stupidest son of a bitch I ever met," Tony stated. Bruce nodded, getting where the feelings were coming from. "We wouldn't let Ross keep you."

"I know."

"Good."

\----------

Clint had finally fallen asleep on the ground. Well... Half seated, half laying. Ross and his goons hadn't checked on the archer since Ross had his hissy fit and found out about the hearing loss. So Clint had waited and then grew a bit tired. He figured why not rest his head on the ground beside him and so he did. Needless to say, that was when Ross decided to return. Clint woke to screaming pain in his stomach and chest. Snapping his eyes opened, Clint noticed Ross was leaning down close to his face.

"You awake?" Ross asked, intentionally talking slow so as to make sure that Clint could read his lips. Clint would have been annoyed if his head didn't hurt so much. Instead he was sort of grateful. Slowly the archer nodded his head, not wanting to answer verbally. Ross smiled. "Good."

The General backed away and Clint then felt the chair being shifted. Surprised, Clint looked to see if he could see what Ross was doing. But Ross had placed himself behind Clint. Frowning, Clint wondered what was going on. This was too different from before. Ross was almost acting nice. But once the chair was fully back upright, Clint saw why. Ross had brought a video camera into the room and now Clint was facing it. The man was going to record him doing something to Clint. Something that he couldn’t allow bother the others. A second later, Ross reentered his line of vision.

"Your so called 'friends' just told me that the beast isn't in New York. Well, that sounds very unfortunate for you. Cause I told them that if that creature wasn't by my side within twenty-four hours, then I'd announce to the world about you. I sent them that... About an hour ago. And knowing the monster as well as I do, he is gone. For good," Ross taunted. Clint frowned. Bruce wouldn't leave. Not after everything that the others had done for him. Here in New York, he was protected by them. They were his friends. Could he have left after Clint left? No... He wanted to stay. "So, I decided that the world needed to know why they shouldn't trust the Avengers."

"What?" Clint called, wondering what the hell Ross meant. As Ross turned to set up the camera, Clint realized what was going to happen. Ross was going to record Clint. It took only a few seconds more until Ross finished fussing with the camera before walking behind him. Clint schooled his features, praying to god that he could just pull this whole thing off with being stubborn. Course Clint knew that Ross was determined and Ross would definitely ask questions with Clint unable to see. He was fucked. Time passed slowly with Ross standing behind the archer. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. And with each second ticking away, Clint feared for what Ross was saying behind him.

Suddenly a hand was placed on Clint's shoulder and as hard as the archer tried not to react, his body did the smallest of jerks. Clint could tell the owner of the hand was pleased by the light squeeze it gave him. Then Ross came back into his view. Clint glanced over his with eyes to see Ross but didn't draw his full attention on the General and somehow the guy was smart enough to hold himself in just a way that Clint couldn’t read the guy’s lips. Another minute or some passed before Ross patted the archer's shoulder and then walked over to the camera. Messing with it for a few seconds, he then turned back to look at Clint with a smile.

"And now the whole world knows."

\----------

Coulson sat back in his seat. Skye had come to him only a few minutes beforehand with a 'must watch video'. Thinking it had to do with their current mission, Coulson loaded it up. Not even a second into it, Coulson knew it wasn't about their mission. How Skye could have known about Clint, Coulson didn't know, but here was a video of Clint tied to a chair. Another figure entered the frame from beside the camera but didn't turn back around until it was behind Clint. Once he did, Coulson knew precisely who it was.

"Ross," Coulson cursed as the general smiled to the camera.

“ _Hello to anyone and everyone who has found this video. My name is General Thaddeus Ross. Some of you may have heard my name before. Good for you. We aren't here for me though. We are here because I want to show you who has chosen to protect you,_ " Ross called into the camera. Coulson sighed wondering how Clint was involved in this. The video cut out to found footage of Hulk on a ‘rampage’ in Harlem. " _We all know of this beast. This creature now called Hulk. We have heard of what he has done. Especially in New York. Twice now he has trashed it._ "

Now the video showed the devastation from Manhattan. Coulson frowned. Even though he had been 'dead' and in a coma at this point, he had gone back and seen the videos. Everything that S.H.I.E.L.D had on the incident. Which was just about every video from every recordable device. Then again, it's not like any of it was kept from the public. All the videos were still on the internet. Fury said it was good publicity for the Avengers and many others agreed with him. But now, that was being used against them.

" _But the Avengers are good!_ " Ross cried, sounding like a whinny school kid. The video cut back to him, showing that he was faking that. His face suddenly darkened with rage. " _We all thought so. They supposedly protected us. But lets think back on who the Avengers are._

 _"Tony Stark,_ " Ross began, showing video footage and various pictures of Tony from his younger years when Obadiah was still working for him. " _Champion to America. Most handsome man in the world. But what else did he do? Up until a few years ago, Stark Industries used to be the leading manufacturer of weapons. They had a billionaire dollar deal with the military. And how about the fact that 'clean energy project' wasn't even on the books until Stark went missing for a few months. In fact once Stark had that 'revealing' trip, he stopped producing weapons unless it was for Iron Man. Then come to find out, he is Iron Man! Come on!_ "

The video then cut to images from the court hearings where the American government tried to get the Iron Man suit away from Tony. Coulson frowned. Where was Ross leading with this? What was he trying to prove?

" _Then after revealing that he is Iron Man, he then turns around and acts like his normal, stupid, childish self? Who's to say he won't do that again? Who's to say he won't turn on America if someone insults him the day before? Think about what happened with the Mandarin. He could have cared less until one of his employees got injured. Where was he before then? Where were any of the Avengers?_ " Coulson shook his head. Where was Ross during the Mandarin event? Oh yeah, still needlessly trying to get Bruce. Then the images then cut to show England. Coulson's frown deepened. He was just going over there to clean up that mess.

" _And where were the Avengers here? Another alien race coming to England to take over. But we all know that once this alien had a foothold, they would spread. America was next! Then the world! How can we call these people our protectors if they don't even protect us?_ " Ross nearly shouted over the videos and images. Coulson sighed as the video went back to Ross. " _Now we look at the Hulk. A monster big and green. A rage machine. He destroyed many areas in his rampages in the past. But just once he was helpful? Or was he really? Think of all the added damage that this green beast did? If someone else was there would there have been less things that needed to be fixed?_ "

The General placed his hand on Clint's shoulder and as much as the archer tried to stop it, his body jerked slightly in surprise. Normal people might not have noticed the twitch but everyone in ‘spy’ and assassin positions would have seen it. Coulson winced now seeing what Ross was going to do. Ross was going to announce to the world what had happened to Clint. The General didn't know that this had only happened recently. And if Clint hadn't been involved in the latest attack then Ross wouldn't have any damage. But seeing as the archer had stubbornly run into the fight, no PR could save the Avengers from this.

" _These people have so many secrets. Did you know that this man is paid to kill people? He is an assassin. Not a hero. Never mind this interesting fact. Hey, why don't you say hello to the lovely people watching,_ " Ross said as he leaned down to talk into Clint's ear. Ross's hand twitched, squeezing Clint's shoulder lightly. Coulson growled, wishing he could jump through the screen and deck Ross. Seconds past and Clint didn't say anything. He just stared into the camera. Ross smiled. " _Don't you want to say hello?_ "

Again there was no response from Clint. Ross then looked back up to the camera.

" _Many of you out there may not understand but I do. This man. This assassin. This archer is deaf. He can't hear a thing. And yet he is one of the ones out there fighting. Can we really trust a team that would allow someone like this to fight for us? What happens if there is someone in need of help and he's the only one closest to them? He can't hear them!_ " Ross shouted. " _This man cannot be put into such an important position! And even worse, it was kept secret from us about his hearing inability! Do you trust these so called 'Avengers’_ "

With that Ross stepped forward and shook his head. Coulson watched as Clint's eyes shifted to look at Ross but other than that small movement, no one would notice that Clint was trying to read Ross's lips. The older agent snarled as Ross focused on the camera. He could tell that Clint couldn’t actually see Ross’s face and that just made all of this worse.

" _Ask yourself this. Would you want these men and woman defending you? They took up a mantle that should have been dealt with by the American nation. No. By the world. And they have kept secrets from us and even were enemies to the world themselves. They shouldn't be trusted. Many of them should be locked up. So now I ask you, seriously. Who would you rather defend you? The men and women trained by and work for the government or these hooligans who have lied to us and pick and chose their fights?_ "

Coulson sighed deeply and turned off the video. Not that there was much time left but... It felt better that he just stop there. Ross had already done enough damage that Coulson wasn't sure could be fixed. Standing, Coulson turned his back to the computer. His office door slowly opened but he didn't look.

"So. That doesn't seem good," called May. Coulson smirked at her wording. "What are you going to do?"

"Is there anything I can do?" Coulson countered. May raised her eyebrows as Coulson looked back at her. He frowned at her face and watched as it slowly turned into a smile.

"We aren't really controlled by S.H.I.E.L.D. Each mission is our own. And I did hear something about an evil monster held in Stark Tower," May suggested. Coulson laughed, his face brightening as he understood what May was suggesting. "It sounds like we should do something about that."

"I believe that could be our next mission."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in pain! Earlier this morning I had stitches put into my back because I had a mole removed. Now, seemingly every time I twitch there is a large spark of pain. Dang meds wearing off.
> 
> Darius has been good. Can't remember if I mentioned this but he's been itchy for a while now and people had thought it might have been poison ivy or something. Finally called the doctor. Apparently it's eczema. A bad case of it. Thankfully we now have him on proper medication so it should get taken care of soon. He's been behaving better too. Typically only giving us attitude when he is tired. Course as I typed this we got into a fight of him either staying inside or being outside. He is currently outside with hubby and hubby knows not to let him in unless he comes in too. I hope.


	19. Statement

JARVIS wished for once in his life that he had hands. Cause if he did, he would throw something as hard as he could and pray to god it destroyed something. For the past hour, Stark Tower had been flooded with phone calls. Not really sure what they were all for, JARVIS just kept putting them through the system over and over. Now many of the employees were telling JARVIS to deal with the calls himself. But there were too many. Even for the AI. So, he listened to one.

"Is it true that Hawkeye is deaf?" was the only words that came through the line before JARVIS 'hung up'. Stunned couldn't even cover what the AI felt. Yes, he felt. But he couldn't focus on that. He needed to figure out what was going on. So JARVIS began hanging up on every phone call as he researched the internet. It was there that he found and watched the video. And now he had only one choice of something to do.

"Miss Potts?" JARVIS called through the speakers in the woman's office. Pepper jumped slightly as she hadn't been expecting the AI to speak to her. Looking toward the nearest monitor that JARVIS used in her office, Pepper smiled softly.

"Yes. JARVIS?"

"I'm afraid there has been a situation with the Avengers," JARVIS answered. Pepper sat up straighter. She had been in her office since learning that JARVIS had lied to her about losing Tony's feed in the middle of the battle from before. After she learned that the genius was safe, Pepper assumed that it would be okay to get back to work.

"What kind of situation?" JARVIS hesitated, wondering briefly where to begin. Instead of answering he took over Pepper's computer and pulled up the newest video of Ross and Clint. Pepper sat in shocked silence as she watched the entire thing. And even for a few minutes after, she didn't say a thing. JARVIS had to check his monitors to make sure she was even breathing. "Oh my god. Does Tony know?"

"You are the first I have informed of this situation," JARVIS mentioned. Pepper nodded, pleased with the AI's intelligence. She stood suddenly and began pacing. A sure sign that she was stressing. JARVIS said nothing. He knew better then to interrupt her while she was thinking and planning.

"What is Tony currently doing?"

"Sir is currently trying e-mail and call General Ross's superiors to avoid this exact situation." Pepper winced at that.

"And Steve?"

"Captain Rogers has made contact with General Ross and I believe that the Captain's threats are what drove the General to doing this."

"Ah," Pepper voiced, lost in thought. Again, JARVIS waited for her. Seconds passed as she debated back and forth what to do. Finally a thought struck her. "How busy have the phones been?"

"Ringing off the hook. I have actually begun hanging up on most of the calls," JARVIS reported. Pepper nodded before frowning.

"No. Sort through them. All reporters come to me," Pepper told him. JARVIS wished that she would reconsider but did as he was told. Seconds later Pepper's phone lit up like a Christmas tree. Pepper's eyes widened in surprise before clicking to answer the first call. "Hello, Pepper Potts speaking."

"Miss Potts? Did you know about the Avengers' secret?" a man asked over the line. Pepper frowned. That was not the way she had thought this would go. Most reporters were at least nice enough to say who they were and who they worked with.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Pepper kindly replied. The man scoffed as if she should recognize his voice. She probably could have, if she had been better prepared for something like this. But right now, her mind was focused on figuring out what to say.

"My name is Michael Lance. I am from-" Michael began to explain. Pepper sighed. Yeah, she really should have recognized his voice.

"The National Enquirer. I remember you now," Pepper responded, sounding dejected. Of all the reporters she could have answered first, it had to be him. This guy had always given her trouble. He was one of the ones who continuously posted about any failings Stark Industries had while she was at the head and never once mentioned the successes. Successes that far outweighed the failures. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you knew about the secret that the Avengers kept from the world?" Michael questioned. Pepper frowned. She had two ways to play this. Admit the truth or stall. She chose stall.

"What secret are you talking about?" She countered, covering up her knowledge with innocence.

"Hawkeye's deafness," Michael growled. Pepper rolled her eyes. Of course. She sighed deeply.

"Hawkeye just recently became deaf," She reported. JARVIS loaded a video on her screen. There is showed some sort of blast that knocked Clint to the ground. Pepper watched it three times to make sure she saw it right. Then she smiled. "Actually, I was informed it may have happened in their last battle. Hawkeye left the tower before getting checked out by our medics and was sadly kidnapped."

"Wait, Hawkeye allowed himself to get kidnapped?" Michael inquired, sounding much more pleased by this information. Pepper sighed, she didn't mean to turn this into a problem with Clint.

"Not exactly," Pepper hesitantly responded. Michael snorted into his line.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Hawkeye... Well..." Pepper began to explain when suddenly Tony and Steve burst into her office. Pepper quickly held her hand against the receiver and glared at Tony.

"Hawkeye is on a mission!" Tony softly told her. Pepper frowned but Tony nodded to her, informing her to tell Michael the lie. She looked to Steve and saw him nod as well. Heaving a great sigh, she released the receiver.

"Hawkeye has been sent on a mission," Pepper said. Michael paused.

"What mission?"

"Classified."

"I don't believe you." Pepper smirked. And he fell into her trap, like she knew he would.

"You don't have to believe me. Just know that you need to report on facts or I will sue you. This whole conversation has been recorded and if you dare publish an article that is not the entire truth, I will ruin you," Pepper threatened with a happy and smug voice. Here she paused to listen to Michael's sharp intake of breath. As he was about to speak, she smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Have a good day, Mr. Lance." With that she hung up the phone and sighed deeply. Tony and Steve said nothing. They just stared at her. After a moment, she looked up. "Want to explain to me why I just lied to a reporter who already doesn't like me?"

"Um... I just have to say, wow. You are totally sexy right now," Tony commented. Steve's eyes widened before he looked away. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Tony?"

"Right. Um. We want... Uh... I just totally lost my train of thought," Tony admitted. Steve smirked as Pepper chuckled.

"All the blood run lower then your brain?" she joked. Tony paused.

"Now it did," he mentioned, looking away from her. Pepper laughed out loud as Steve shook his head, getting used to the sexual jokes around the group. Didn't mean he liked it, but he was getting used to it. Course, he was never going to admit that the Howling Commandos could be just as bad. It was more a matter of the sex jokes these days seemed more derogatory than the jokes back in the day.

"We wanted to make it seem like Clint has an ulterior motive to being with Ross," Steve finally answered. Pepper frowned but nodded as though she understood. Steve sighed, realizing that he had worded their plan weird. "We want it to be like Clint allowed himself to be caught and not... Well, not look like it does."

"Should I tell this same story to all the reporters?" Pepper questioned. Steve frowned, having not realized how many reporters were barraging Stark Industries phone lines. Slowly he nodded, wondering how many there could be. Pepper nodded and turned back to her phone.

"So, you good?" Tony muttered. Pepper glanced at him.

"I guess. We'll have to release an official statement. Get a press conference together. Work some good PR," Pepper began listing. Tony inched toward the door and waved to Steve to try and get the Captain to follow. But Steve would always be the 'boy scout' and wanted to be there to help.

"You don't have to do that. You're aren't our public adviser," Steve stated. Pepper looked up at him.

"And who is?" Steve said nothing in response. S.H.I.E.L.D typically handled these types of things but... As the Avengers began to get more notice, S.H.I.E.L.D hadn’t been all that great at keeping up. Pepper nodded and looked back down to the phone. "Thought so. Sides, I've done this sort of thing a lot."

"Really?" Steve asked. Pepper's eyes raised to look at him even though her head only slightly tilted to the side so basically she was looking at him from below her eyebrows. Somehow that got the point across and Steve glanced at Tony. "Oh."

"Well, let me get to this before it gets too much more out of hand," Pepper stated before picking up a pen and began writing something on a notepad in front of her. She needed to remember who she told what to so she didn’t mess up her story in any way. Tony clasped the doorknob in his hand and smiled.

"Well, good luck!" and with that, he vanished. Pepper snapped to attention.

"How long until those hearing aids are done?"

\----------

Ross couldn't help but be pleased with how his announcement went. Already most news stations were covering the event. Not many had already gotten comments from Pepper and so most were only able to release his side. The Avengers had basically been blind sided by Ross.

"That's what you get for threatening me," Ross growled to himself in pleased humor. A few stations were already calling for Bruce to be handed over to Ross for containment. Even more were obsessing on Clint's hearing loss. Some went into the past of the Black Widow, who Ross had barely mentioned but somehow they found sources. Those stations also focused on Tony being a weapons manufacturer and Steve's 'history.’ No one touched Thor. As an Asgardian Prince, no one wanted to mess with him.

"General Ross, sir," called a soft spoken voice. Ross turned and noticed a young solider that he had stationed to guard Clint's doorway. The general frowned at the man which only made the immature kid shake in fear.

"What?" Ross snarled.

"Uh... We think something is wrong with the prisoner," the solider stated. Ross rolled his eyes, not sure if he could really believe the solider. Hell, many of them had never really faced a super spy. Especially not one as well trained as Clint. Ross wouldn't be surprised if he walked into Clint's room and saw him acting as if he had passed out. Standing, Ross motioned for the solider to lead the way. The man nodded and the two took off. Moments later, they were standing outside the door. Another solider, one more experienced, was looking in on Clint.

"What's going on?" Ross snapped at the solider. The man spun to face the general and saluted.

"Sir, he just went silent and then his head dropped," the man reported. Ross rolled his eyes.

"He's probably faking consciousness," Ross informed the guard before turning to walk away. The man cleared his throat, making Ross pause and turn back.

"I would normally agree with you, sir. But... Well, no one can fake blood coming out of their ears."

\----------

Steve fidgeted back and forth as he pulled on the collar of his uniform. For the first time since waking up from the ice, Steve felt highly uncomfortable in his Captain America outfit. Pepper had said it would be better if he was dressed in uniform. Hell, actually everyone was standing by him in uniform. Well, not like Bruce or Thor really had an actual uniform. But Tony swore to meet them outside in his suit and Natasha was fixing the Widow Bite gauntlets on her wrists beside him.

"What are you nervous about?" Natasha suddenly asked as if she could sense why he was uncomfortable. Steve jumped at her sudden voice.

"Messing up," Steve admitted. Natasha nodded. She understood that feeling. Steve shook his head. "I'm afraid that I'm going to say something that will ruin any chance Clint has at returning to the field."

"Your position does hold a lot of responsibility," Natasha mentioned. Steve smirked, glad that she was getting what was happening. "Do you want help?"

"Can you do it for me?" Steve joked. Natasha smiled.

"Sadly, I can't," she answered. Steve nodded, grateful that she'd be by his side. Bruce stepped up to his other side.

"What can I do?" he softly inquired. Steve smiled at the doc before shaking his head. If Natasha couldn't help then no one could. Steve was the leader. And as leader, it meant he had to make the big speeches. Hell, Tony even promised Pepper that he wouldn't speak unless a question was directed at him. Bruce nodded and looked forward to the doors that separated the remaining Avengers from the hoard of reporters. After another moment or so, the doors opened. Their cue to walk forward.

At the same time as all of this, Pepper had been out front talking to the press and making sure that they all knew why they were there. So far, it had surprisingly been going well. Pepper had introduced herself and how she was connected to the Avengers. And also how she was placing herself as the PR management for the team. Not many reporters cared about this fact as proven by what happened next.

"What's going on with Hawkeye?" one reporter called. And that is all that it took to create a massive screaming fight.

"Is he really deaf?"

"Are you still keeping him on the team?"

"How are the others getting along with a deaf man?"

"How can you allow a monster to live in that tower?"

"Is the tower safe enough to house such as beast as the Hulk?"

"Will Hawkeye be making an appearance?"

And on and on it went. Pepper calmly held her hands up in defense to 'fend' them off and waited. A few moments later, they all quieted down. Once they were silent, she nodded, smiled and dropped her hands. Taking a deep breath, Pepper went to answer a few of the questions she had heard and was allowed to answer.

"Hawkeye will not be making an appearance as he is currently working. No one has made an official decision on Hawkeye's future as we only recently have learned of his deafness and are hoping that it can be fixed. Any other questions will be directed to the leader of the Avengers," Pepper called, hoping that could be a good enough introduction to the team. Sadly the reporters didn't believe that.

"Recently learned?"

"How long ago did you learn?"

"Why was it not announced to the world that Hawkeye was injured?"

"What about the Hulk?"

"Was it the Hulk's fault?"

"What happened?"

"Please, calm down!" Pepper cried into the mic as she held her hands up. Slowly the voices died down. Sighing, Pepper rolled her eyes. "All your questions can be directed to the leader of the Avengers. Captain Steve Rogers."

With that Steve exited the tower and walked out onto the newly built stage. Not a single reporter said a word. It was rather surprising but Pepper just assumed they were shocked that the Avengers had chosen Steve as their leader over Tony. Natasha came out three seconds later and only a few voices started but they weren't loud enough to be heard. A few seconds after the only female Avenger, Bruce left the safety of the tower. His arrival echoed with boos and hisses of anger. Immediately, he paled and wished that he could turn back around into the tower but Steve, Tony and Pepper and been insistent on him showing up. Not soon after the jeering started, did it end as Thor stepped out. The big blond placed himself directly next to Bruce in less then three strides and the doctor appreciated the effect it caused.

Once the four had placed themselves up near the microphone, then there was a hum from above. Steve glanced up and caught the reflection of the sun off of Tony's Iron Man suit. Not one to hide his entrance, Tony did an aerial dive toward the reporters before flipping back toward the stage and landing beside Natasha's right side with a loud thud. The crowd that was forming behind the reporters cheered. So the five stood there, listening. Thor placed his right hand on Bruce's shoulder in support. Bruce smiled at the Asgardian before looking toward Steve. The super solider nodded to Bruce and then turned to look at Natasha. She gave a quick bow of the head to Steve and as Tony stood, he saluted the Captain which made Steve roll his eyes, seconds before turning out to the reporters.

"As you all heard and may have previously known, my name is Captain Steve Rogers. I am one of the ones that General Thaddeus Ross did not mention in his online rant against my team. We were not chosen by anyone to defend this nation as heroes. Nor did we plan our lives to be this way. But when the citizens here were being attacked, we were the ones who stood up and fought. We did have many men and women of law enforcement helping us, yes. And we all did what we could," Steve began. When someone opened their mouth to ask a question, Steve held up his hand and waited a few seconds for them to understand that he wanted everyone to hold their questions. "Now I am not saying that we are the right choice. Many of us have made mistakes in our past. The most nationally known person for that is Tony Stark. Our very own Iron Man."

The crowd booed and no one was really sure if they were booing at Tony or at Steve. It was here that Steve hesitated and glanced at Tony and Natasha for support. Tony was too distracted by the crowd to even notice the super soldier's look but Natasha did. She waved her hand toward him as an indication to continue on and ignore the people.

"Tony Stark was CEO to Stark Industries which mainly made their money in weapons manufacturing. It wasn't until very recently that he had been taken captive and made a rather large change. When he came back from that, his first act was to dismantle his weapons and work on energy. It was not long after that that he announced he was Iron Man," Steve announced.

"Yeah but then he turned his back on us! He acted cocky!" Someone screamed from the back. Steve frowned. This was not going well already if the crowd was mad at them too.

"Tony was actually dying. He was being poisoned by the very object that makes him be Iron Man and keeps him alive. But as I have said, we all make mistakes. Tony's was believing that he could publicly humiliate himself before death so that no one questioned his outstanding choices made during that time. One of which lead to Miss Potts now leading Stark Industries," Steve countered. No one responded to that. With the silence, Tony puffed out his chest (as much as possible) in pride. Steve sighed deeply. "Bruce-"

"Is a beast!"

"Kill him!"

"Monster!"

"DIE!"

Voices roared to life over Steve's attempt at keeping control. With each new saying, Bruce seemed to grow paler and shrunk into himself. He knew this was going to be hard but he hadn't planned on it being this hard. Knowing that Steve lost control of the situation, Tony shoved his way over to the mic and began screaming into it to calm everyone but there were too many voices and no one could hear him over the sounds they all made.

"ENOUGH!" Thor suddenly roared, his voice sounding louder then a thunder clap. Everyone stilled. "Bruce Banner is an amazing man and an amazing scientist. He has done wondrous things. Yes, he has a rather violent side that is displayed in the green 'beast,' as you like to call him. Hulk and I may have our differences but I am proud to fight and protect this Realm beside him."

Silence followed Thor's little speech. No one had any idea how to respond to the Asgardian. Not even the other Avengers. Steve had told Thor to stay out of it all seeing as he was from Asgard and could essentially be banned from the United States if the president deemed it necessary. After a minute, Steve nodded a thanks to the thunderer and took his place back at the mic. Clearing his throat, he started again.

"Dr. Banner has done many good things. One of which that is publicly known is helping to fight in the Battle of Manhattan. It was his arrival that helped turn the tide in that fight. Yes, Hulk may have done damage in the past but think back on those times. Once was when he was first... Well, ‘created,’ for lack of a better word. And all the rest has been when he was chased by none other then General Thaddeus Ross," Steve pointed out. The crowd gasped in surprise and began to chat among themselves. Steve ignored it and plowed on. "Hulk had been frightened those times. He was protecting Dr. Banner in the only way he knew how. By attacking back. But, Dr. Banner now has better control over the Hulk. He only turns into him when we need Hulk for battle. And even now, we are teaching Hulk what to attack and what not to attack. Now, that doesn't mean there won't be mistakes. He may still create collateral damage, but so wouldn't the military. So do we all."

"What about Hawkeye? How do you explain a deaf man in battle?" someone screamed. Steve hesitated at that. He had no prepared statement for Clint's defense. The others he had at least been able to ask if it was okay to mention the things he had mentioned but... Clint was still with Ross. So what was he going to do? Natasha stepped forward and when Steve realized she wanted the mic, he quickly backed down.

"Hawkeye is a trained military man. He is a Second Lieutenant in the US Army," Natasha began. At that, the whole team jerked to look at her in surprise. Natasha was unfazed. No one had ever asked about Clint's history so there was no way they could know. Natasha only knew because there was once a mission, before she arrived, where Clint had to get military training and the archer excelled enough to get himself to that position in a very short amount of time. (Unknown to either of them, Peggy Carter helped.) "Hawkeye recently turned to working for a private sector of the government and they had him on limited duty. When we went into battle earlier today, Hawkeye turned his hearing aids on and came out to help. If not for an EMP blast that knocked out his aids, no one would have noticed Hawkeye's disability."

"How do you plan on communicating with Hawkeye when his aids go down again?" someone new cried, no one noting the contradicting statements from Natasha and Pepper. Natasha shifted her gaze to Tony. He nodded.

"Dr. Banner and I have been working on creating new aids that won't be damaged by an EM pulse. We are very close to completion and when Hawkeye returns, we will actually be doing some brief trials," Tony called from his spot, JARVIS helping amplifying his voice. Bruce raised an eyebrow in surprise. They were no where close to trials. Hell, they weren't anywhere close to even figuring out how to work the aids so that they were safe enough to handle other damages such as Thor’s lightning and thunder nearby and explosions.

"Did Hawkeye allow himself to be caught by General Ross for a mission?" Natasha glanced over at Steve in inquiry as to where the man had gotten that idea. Steve rolled his eyes before looking slightly in Pepper's direction. The woman blushed when Natasha turned to her. Sighing deeply, Natasha wondered the best way to cover this.

"Yes, he is on mission for me. We are trying to see what General Ross has planned for kidnapping Dr. Banner. Hawkeye went there under my orders to find out what was going on," Steve interjected as he placed himself back near the mic. Natasha nodded her thanks before stepping aside for him. "We had planned this from before his hearing aids were hit with the EMP and so we are a bit thrown now that Hawkeye is there and not really able to hear."

"Is it true that you plan on mounting an attack on General Ross?" called a female reporter from the front of the crowd. Steve frowned deeply. He hadn't said anything like that to anyone.

"Where did you get that idea?" Steve questioned. Sadly the reporter never answered because suddenly everyone was focused on their phones. After a few seconds, the crowd began to disperse. Steve looked back at Pepper as she walked forward. "What just happened?"

"A bigger story," Tony mentioned, before closing his HUD and asking JARVIS to research it. No one responded as they waited for his answer. Too bad they never got one. Once JARVIS informed Tony about what was going on, the genius burst off.

"Um... Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I am sure you all noticed, I am late by a day on this chapter. That is mostly because I spent most of yesterday sleeping because Thursday night I did not sleep. I also on that day received some bad not really unexpected news. I have moles that are pre-cancerous moles. My family has a history of skin cancer so that's why it wasn't unexpected.
> 
> Darius is good. He's been happy, playing, and overall good. We had an issue on Thursday in which our dog Appa hadn't been able to get outside due to our yard getting a chemical treatment so he pissed in our living room. And of course, Darius hadn't cleaned up his toys. They were thankfully easy toys to clean but the entire thing got me highly upset, even though I knew Appa wasn't truly to blame. For that, Friday morning, hubby had to deal with letting the dog out and feeding cause I was mad at him still. Again, I know he isn't to blame it just sucks and I stupidly blame him. Darius has had some truly epic moments this week too.
> 
> He was playing Ghostbusters (mostly wandering around with a stick and making noise as he captures a 'ghost') and while he was doing so, for every time he made a noise, Appa would spin in a circle chasing his tail. Happened quiet a few times. There was also a point where we had gotten dinner and Darius had ordered pasta. Well, it arrived and he asked us to feed him. We said that we were busy and that he could do it. His response would he'd make a mess (a well known fact that he does with anything that wasn't finger foods or could be turned into finger foods). We still told him that he had to do it on his own. He insisted. We insisted. When he finally gave in, he either intentionally or accidentally dropped the pasta on the floor. It thankfully was clumped together to a degree so not much was spilt on the floor and he didn't lose much of his dinner. So, he then looked right at us and said 'see, I told you I'd make a mess.'
> 
> Two days after that, Darius wanted to play neighbors and I couldn't fully get what he wanted as he kept spending most time away from me. So, considering he only had two houses made from magnatiles (or whatever) I told him I'd like a bigger neighborhood. He added one house. I asked for more. He added a road. I asked for more houses again. Road got torn up for new houses. Then more pieces came down. And more.... and more. I think he built like eight or nine houses or something. So what did I do? I asked for a road. Then the neighborhood died in a blaze of yellow rain....


	20. Ross's Failure

At a medical facility on 2nd Ave, a strange man was dropped off at the door. No one waited for help. They just placed him on the sidewalk, hit the automatic doors and left. The automatic doors opening and closing made the woman at the receptionist area of the emergency department curious. She was the one who found the blond haired stranger bleeding from his ears right outside the door. It was she that helped bring him in.

Twenty minutes later, the stranger was found out to be none other than Hawkeye. A fan of his, from another room had seen him when the nurses rushed him toward the MRI scan. Surprised to be helping an Avenger, the doctor quickly changed the staff working on the archer's case. He had hoped that by doing that he'd avoid what would happen next.

Fifteen minutes after the truth was revealed, the facility was swamped with reporters from some newspaper or other media source. Minutes later the whole place was in lockdown. Thankfully no reporter had actually gotten into the emergency department. But someone new had. The red and gold suit clanked on the floor as Tony walked down the halls, trying to find Clint in the rather small building.

"Excuse me!" Tony called to a nurse after lifting his face plate. The woman paused before turning to look at the Iron Man. Her eyes humorously grew larger as she stared at the suit. With a soft smile, Tony moved closer to her. "Do you happen to know where Hawkeye is?"

"Ro- room... 6. Room 6," the nurse answered, lifting her right hand to point down the hall. Tony gave her a reassuring look when he noticed she was shaking like a leaf.

"Thanks," he replied before clomping off in the direction she pointed. Two minutes later Tony entered Clint's room to see the archer sitting up in his bed. Sky blue eyes quickly turned to the billionaire and filled with relief. He looked healthy enough. There was a dried blood trail leading from his ears and some small bruises but strangely no bandages of any kind. Hell, the archer didn't even have an IV. If Tony didn't know any better, he'd say that Clint didn't need any medical attention at all. Tony smiled before focusing on the other person in the room, who was standing at the foot of Clint's medical bed.

"Tony," Clint muttered as he let out a breath.

"Mr. Stark?" the other man asked as he turned to look at Tony. Tony quickly glanced over the man before determining he was supposed to be the doctor.

"Hey, what's going on with my friend?" Tony inquired as he walked over to the side of Clint's bed and gently placed a metal covered hand on the archer's shoulder.

"I was trying to communicate with your friend, but I believe the bleeding to his ears may have caused temporary deafness," the doctor began but Tony stopped him with a raised hand.

"He's actually bleeding from his ears?" Tony cried, turning to look at the archer in shock. Clint raised an eyebrow, having not seen what Tony had said. Not saying anything, Tony gently turned Clint's head away from him and glanced at the archer's ears. Indeed there was a small trail of dried blood coming out of the one he was looking at. "Jesus! How the hell did this happen?"

"We are currently unsure. It looks like the ossicles bones may have shifted in their effort to heal over some hardening fluid and seems to have pierced a vein which is leaking around the ear drum and into the ear canal," the doctor explained. Tony snapped to attention and faced the doc.

"What? What hardening fluid? What the fuck have you guys done to him?" Tony growled. The doctor held his hands up in surrender as Tony looked like he was going to attack.

"Please, Mr. Stark. I don't know what happened to him before he arrived but his ears are currently filled with a glue like fluid from a recent ear infection. The tiny bones in his ear have shifted in an effort to regain his hearing and have shifted so far that they hit a vein," the doctor described.

"So what does that mean?" Tony softly said. The doc looked down to the floor, seemingly unsure how to answer. Tony narrowed his eyes, taking a page out of Natasha's book and Pepper's book on intimidation. "What does that mean?"

"It means that his ears are tying to heal. Within a few months times he should possibly regain hearing. It may not be what it was before, but it will return to some degree. Especially now that we know about it and can give him medication to extract the glue like fluid," the doctor admitted. Tony blinked a few times. Then he looked down at Clint. The archer was giving him a weird look as he was unable to follow the whole conversation. Tony turned back to the doctor.

"Is that all?"

"What?" the doc questioned.

"Seriously? I thought it was going to be really bad news like he was dying or some shit," Tony exclaimed with a laugh. The doctor gave him an incredulous look. "God, you made this out to be a bad thing!"

"Well, his ears trying to self heal is very bad. And very dangerous," the doc mentioned. Tony instantly sobered. "If they heal wrong, he may never hear. And as proven already they could shift in the wrong direction and cause more bad than good."

"But basically he's good. No other damage, nothing we should be really worried about?"

"None that I can see. Especially as an Avenger. If this was anyone else, I would keep them here for few days and make sure the medication was working but. With all the news crews outside, it might be best for him to go home with you, as long as there is someone there who can watch over him," the doc claimed before leaning forward the grab a clipboard that was filled with papers. Tony assumed they were Clint's current file. Maybe even his release forms.

"So, you already gave him something?" Tony asked, surprised that the doctor had been able to slip something like that past the assassin.

"Well, he came in mostly unconscious. He passed out fully during the CT scan of his head. So when we finished that and found out the problem, we just stuck it through his IV. Which he removed only moments after waking but we didn't need it anymore, so we left it out," the doctor muttered. Tony nodded, rolling his eyes at Clint's need to remove his IV but then remembering some of the stories that he and Natasha had told where they thought they were in a hospital but ended up being drugged in enemy hands. Honestly, they were lucky that Clint was still in the room.

"Basically, he's free to go then?" Tony questioned, unsure if that was such a good idea considering Clint's past.

"Yup," the doctor answered with a nod. And then he looked to Clint, said good-bye and left the room. Tony stood there stumped for a few seconds before it finally caught up to him that the doc had just left and wasn't going to treat Clint.

"Tony?" Clint soft voice called. It hardly seemed like he was making a noise. Tony turned to the archer, curious about the soft sounds. "What's going on? Last I knew I was in the hands of Ross. Did... Did Bruce give himself up for me?"

"Uh... No... You had a medical issue and Ross abandoned you at an emergency room," Tony replied, using JARVIS to quickly increase the volume of the archer’s words. Clint glanced around curiously at the room. Tony waved his hand in front of the archer's face to regain the man's attention. Clint faced him again. "Don't worry, the doc is already releasing you into my care."

"What type of medical issue?" Here Tony paused. Did he really want to tell Clint that his ears may be getting better or could turn bad and he'd lose his hearing completely? His hesitation lasted too long because Clint's eyes narrowed and his voice grew darker and dangerous. "What kind of medical issue, Tony."

"Uh... Well... Your ears," Tony finally stated. Clint blinked in surprise. Ross never even touched his ears. Then again, the general didn't even really abuse Clint. So how could there have been a medical issue without their being a reason? "Your ears were bleeding because the bones had shifted and hit a vein."

"Oh," was Clint's only response. Tony nodded but before he could say anything else, a female voice interrupted him.

"Excuse me," she called. Tony spun to see the same nurse from before standing in the doorway. She had a small paper bag with her. "This is his medication. The doctor suggested that you take off from the roof. Go straight back to your tower but go slowly and stay as low as you can. His ears may not be able to handle pressure changes."

"Okay, thanks," Tony answered but when he held the bag out to him, he shifted away. "I don't like things being handed to me."

"Oh," the nurse responded before shifting to drop the bag off by Clint's side. He looked down at it curiously. Tony hadn't mentioned that he needed meds. "I wish you luck."

"Thanks," Tony said as the nurse left. Once she was gone, he turned back to Clint. Clint focused on him. "That's some meds for your ears. You will take them. Anywho, we have to leave by the roof, so whenever you're ready."

"Lets get out of here," Clint retorted, quickly getting out of the bed only to become extremely woozy and dropping back down. Tony rushed to his side as Clint raised a hand to his head. "Or just... Give me a minute."

"Well, you're gonna need more. You need to change to normal clothes unless you want to flash all of New York," Tony commented but when Clint looked at him oddly the billionaire realized that Clint hadn't been facing him. So he repeated the statement to which Clint looked down at the johnny and growled.

"Can this day get any worse?"

\----------

Coulson smiled when he heard Clint ask that. He was standing just beyond the doorway, making sure the agent was alright. After May had reported that Clint had been abandoned in an emergency room, Coulson had rushed off. He had arrived just seconds after the door was closed and claimed his brother had just been brought in. Seeing as the nurses didn't want any proof of such brother, they just let him through to close the doors on the reporters appearing behind him.

"Did you make it?" May suddenly asked through the comm that Coulson forgot he had on. He reached up to it as he walked down the hall, away from Clint's room.

"Yes. Where are you?" he responded. May took a moment to respond, which made Coulson assume she was telling the rest of the team.

"On the roof." Coulson's eyes widened in surprise.

"No! Get off of there right now! Stark and Barton are on their way up there!" Coulson commanded. Silence came back over the comm which made Coulson extremely nervous. What made it worse was that a minute later, he could hear Tony and Clint leaving the room.

"So, reporters are outside?" Clint was loudly asking. Coulson could only assume that Tony nodded because Clint spoke again. "That means that Ross did announce my... Disability?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Tony replied before their voices faded. Coulson glanced around the corner and just about spotted the shimmer from the gold and red suit being reflected onto a wall by a light. Taking a deep sigh, Coulson followed after the two men. About halfway to the roof, Coulson's comm chimed.

"We moved a few blocks away so, you're gonna have to call in for a pickup," May's voice said, sounding rather strained. Coulson frowned but didn't lose his step in following his friend and the billionaire.

"Sounds fine," Coulson reported before accidentally getting a little too close to Clint and Tony.

"So, what are we going to do about Ross?" Clint's voice carried over toward Coulson. The older agent's eyes narrowed as he realized that this whole thing had indeed been Ross's fault. If that bastard hadn’t gone after Clint, then the archer would have been safe in the tower and closer to medical attention. Maybe then all of this could have been caught earlier and dealt with before it got this bad.

"I'm not sure there’s much we can do," Tony answered. Coulson growled, wondering how true that statement was. “His superiors can’t do much now. Everything is already over.”

"Really? After all that, Ross is just gonna get away with kidnapping me?" Clint snarled. Tony sighed deeply. He had no idea what to tell his friend. "Ross is seriously even getting away with threatening Bruce? Really?"

"Look, Clint, we can try but I don't think we can do anything. Ross publicly called us out to be... Well, 'evil.' And if we try to go after him after that, then the public will disregard us. Hell, Ross made mention to the fact that most of us should be thrown in jail. And we all know the Council is still after you," Tony stated. There was a long pause here were Coulson was almost too afraid to even breath. Then the silence was filled with laughter but it wasn't coming from Tony or Clint. Down the hall from Coulson was a small group of kids that were rushing down the hall.

"Do you seriously think that Ross would try and send all of us to jail?" Clint asked over the laughter. Coulson frowned.

"Maybe."

\----------

Ross sat back in his chair as he read the most recent report on Clint. He had gotten really pissed when he found out that Tony had gotten in and was able to 'rescue' the archer from the reporters. The General had hoped that the reporters would have been able to try and interview Clint about his deafness. And maybe even catch the Avengers in a lie. Sadly, the Avengers were lucky sons of guns and have avoided all the traps that Ross had set out for them. It really ticked him off.

"Sir, there is someone at the gates," a solider mentioned from the slightly cracked door. Ross groaned before shifting so as to load up his computer. Once it was ready, he hooked up to the video feed and saw a blurry image of a rather tall young man. Frowning, Ross initiated a facial scan. Before it could finish though...

"Agent Grant Ward, S.H.I.E.L.D," an unfamiliar voice called. Ross snapped to attention to see an older man standing before him. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson."

"How the hell did you get in here?" Ross cried, shocked. Coulson didn't respond.

"S.H.I.E.L.D has heard that you are trying to get access to one of their newest agents," Coulson declared, before starting a small walking path back and forth. Ross's eyes followed the agent's path through his office with a narrowed gaze.

"What agent? That archer? I thought he's been working for S.H.I.E.L.D for a while," Ross snarled. Coulson's eyes darkened in anger at the mention of his friend. But not once did his pacing pause.

"It's true that Hawkeye has been with us for a while. But the one I really mean is Bruce Banner," Coulson replied. Ross jumped to his feet.

"That can't be true!" Coulson whirled around to face Ross and slammed his hands down on the desk that separated them.

"Dr. Banner is a current employee of S.H.I.E.L.D! You have no rights to go after him any more!" Coulson shouted back. Ross flinched but didn't back down.

"I will bring that beast in. He doesn't deserve freedom," Ross growled. Coulson leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest. "Hell, none of them really do. They all are dangerous freaks!"

"So, Tony Stark is a dangerous freak?" Ross nodded. "How?"

"The suit. He made it that only he could control it. And I've heard rumors that he has hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D's database and even the President's personal computer. He is too smart for his own good," Ross muttered. Coulson rolled his eyes.

"And Steve Rogers?"

"He's mentally unstable! Thinking he's the same Steve Rogers that went missing during World War II!"

"Actually, S.H.I.E.L.D has proven medical history that he truly is Captain Steven Rogers," Coulson mentioned. Ross's eyes widened. "The serum helped him stay alive while frozen."

"The same serum that turned Banner into that beast!"

"No."

"What?" Ross asked surprised. Coulson smirked.

"Banner has already found out that gamma radiation was indeed not what was used in the super solider serum. Rogers has also mentioned that. What Banner did was create something more like a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde serum," Coulson explained. Ross shook his head, not believing Coulson for one second.

"They are still dangerous. I mean, what can stop them?" Ross inquired. Coulson leaned forward and gently placed his hands down on the desk so that he could lean closer to Ross.

"Nothing that you can ever find out. And if I hear that you went after any of them again, I will come back," Coulson threatened. Ross rolled his eyes, not seeing how Coulson could be dangerous. He only stopped when there was a cool blade held against his throat. Glancing in the mirror on the other side of the room, Ross could see a woman standing behind him. "If you think Agent May is dangerous, just wait. If you mess with any of them ever again, I will come back, kill you, bring you back to life, kill you again and then bring you back to release you into the world wishing you had died the first time."

"You can't do that," Ross declared. Coulson smirked.

"I died for over eight days after Manhattan. I had a scepter stabbed into my heart and lungs. Yet, here I stand. So, I think I can indeed bring you back to life," Coulson explained. Ross paled, wishing that Coulson didn't sound so believable. Coulson then nodded to May and she released Ross with a quick shove. While he was trying to catch his balance, Coulson and May disappeared so that when he turned back, they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I missed by a day. That was because I was editing the sequel to my original story, _Project New World_. Didn't get very far in editing, but hey. I was trying.
> 
> Darius......... The attitude. Oh god the attitude on that little dude. Not sure how much of it is my medication or just him hitting my breaking point, but I've spent more time getting angry with him then anything. He's gotten stubborn. If he gets used to playing a certain thing in one spot, you CANNOT move him. So... I get to enjoy a child version of repeated lines from Kiss songs right in front of me... ENDLESSLY! *sigh* At least he's having fun with that. I just wish I could get him to move it upstairs every once in a while.


	21. Rhode Island Sound

One week later and Clint's ears finally stopped trying to self healing by moving into his vein. Which was good news. An ENT checked out Clint's ears and declared the glue like substance to be gone but now that the bones had shifted, then needed to move back into place before Clint would be fine. He also mentioned that his chance of hearing had improved to over 60% chance. That had pleased everyone but Tony and Bruce continued working on hearing aids and three days later they had some aids that would work fine for now. They couldn't withstand an EMP if it was set right next to them but at a distance they would work (in theory, Bruce and Tony couldn’t test it due to JARVIS and Tony’s reactor). Because of this, Fury deemed that Clint was back on active duty.

So, needless to say, the day after getting put on duty there was a mission set up for Clint, Steve and Tony. Why those three? Because it involved Hydra using missing Stark Industries weapons and the two would need Clint's expertise in sneaking them around to find every piece. Surprisingly, it also didn't have an assigned handler and Fury mentioned that it wouldn't get one either. This was to be like an Avengers mission, not a S.H.I.E.L.D mission. So, Clint 'commandeered' a Quinjet and the three were off about an hour later with little to no plan. Too bad they had to get it from the Helicarrier which was flying closer to California then their current destination.

"Wait, they're hiding out in Rhode Island? Where the fuck is that?" Tony growled as he looked over the packet of information. Clint smirked, glad that it wasn't that far away. He had the coordinates and had set the jet to autopilot in order to help make plans but that hadn't meant he exactly knew where they were going.

"I believe it is just below Massachusetts," Steve responded as he glanced down at the map trying to find the small state. Clint rolled his eyes before leaning forward and pointing to the small strip of land that barely stretched 50 miles in either direction. Tony laughed aloud.

"I thought that was part of Boston!" Tony declared. Steve and Clint rolled their eyes. "How can they hide a whole factory there?"

"Apparently cause no one knew the state existed," Clint joked. Steve cracked a smile at that. Tony sarcastically laughed back. "But actually, they are hiding out in an old factory building. S.H.I.E.L.D has been watching it for a few years. There had been a lot of construction going on inside but whenever someone inspected the place, the specs never changed. So we believe there is a hidden basement level or levels."

"No information on how many or where we can get to them?" Steve inquired. Clint shook his head. Steve frowned as Tony muttered 'great' under his breath. Clint smirked at the two.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Clint told them.

"And all we need is someone to set off an EMP for us to lose contact with you," Steve stated. Tony gasped in shock before rushing toward his briefcase. Steve and Clint watched him with a curious look as Tony entered some sort of pass code and it opened with a soft click. "And here I thought that was his suit."

"Same here," Clint mumbled. Tony let out a cry of victory after digging around the small case before pulling out a pair of sunglasses with a red tint. Clint raised an eyebrow, they actually looked familiar. Almost like the pair he had recently misplaced. Tony walked back over to the other two men and handed the glasses toward Clint. "Uh. I already have a pair. Thanks."

"No. First, this is your pair. Natasha helped me get them. Second, it was so not as cool as it is now," Tony pointed out. Clint frowned but took the glasses none the less and put them on just to please Tony. Right away Clint noticed the difference. Rather then seeing everything with a red tint, Clint had small images all over the glasses that declared different things. There were two images of a human body with heart rate, heart rhythm, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and blood pressure. One was labeled Rogers, the other Stark. Then there was another screen that had a blinking tile next to it. A few more were sitting up with blank spaces that Clint could tell were random settings. Clint glanced over at Tony. "Do you get it?"

As Tony spoke, the screen with the tile began to fill up. _'Stark: Do you get it?'_ Clint's mouth dropped in shock. Tony smiled and then mouthed something. _'Stark: I'm guessing you like it.'_ Clint could only gape at the genius. Steve then spoke and as he did, the screen filled with his words. _'Rogers: What does it do? I mean, outside of block the sun from his eyes.'_ Clint removed the glasses.

"They are connected to JARVIS through some larger microchips that I've already fitted into working right away after an EMP. J will use my helmet and comms along with sound waves around Clint to produce a small text box so that when Clint's aids go out, he can still communicate with us. I also added a bit more things so that Clint can help better protect us from his perches. Not that you weren't already doing a good job!" Tony explained. Clint smiled.

"No, it's fine. I mean. It's awesome! How the hell did you come up with this?" Clint asked.

"Pepper actually mentioned it. She said that I should create something like my HUD control for the Iron Man suit for you. Something that J could hook up too. Natasha was the one who mentioned the glasses. I didn't know you had vision problems," Tony changed the subject. Clint almost dropped the glasses in surprise at Tony's change.

"What?" Steve called.

"Don't worry. My vision issues aren't anything that will effect the field. It's just... Well, I'm color sensitive so sometimes my eyes get really sensitive in bright lights. Coulson, with the help of that mutant professor, Charles Xavier figured out that this red tint helped and didn't limit my vision in the dark," Clint mentioned before replacing the glasses to hide his shame at the medical condition he was born with. Hell, it was a small notation in his medical file and Clint had been sure that Steve had gotten that.

"Kinda take your nickname seriously though," Tony joked. Clint and Steve look at Tony confused. "I looked it up with S.H.I.E.L.D, it's actually not color sensitivity. You see more colors then normal people. Hence why your eyes get bothered."

"Why did you never say anything?" Steve questioned. Clint shrugged.

"Never really came up," Clint admitted.

\----------

Two hours later the group had a plan and were just about ready to find a landing spot for the Quinjet. Sadly they weren't meant to land. The flashing red lights and and a warning beep was all the three got before there was a bright flash in front of the cockpit and then they were going down, in two different pieces. Clint, who had been in the cockpit, was falling faster then the splintering jet. Steve, gripping the edge of the broken off section, cried out for the archer and prayed that something would get to him. Tony was that something. JARVIS had had just enough warning to wrap the Iron Man suit around Tony before the explosion and so the red and gold outfit was flying after the falling agent.

"I got ya!" Tony declared as he grabbed onto Clint's frame. Clint let out a loud 'huff' before relaxing into the metal grasp.

"What about Steve?" Clint cried over the whistling wind. Tony looked back to see that now the jet was falling faster then he and Clint and there was no shot in heck that he could catch the Captain.

"ROGERS! JUMP!" Tony screamed into the comm before putting his thrusters to max to try and get down there fast enough to try and catch the super soldier. In doing so, Tony caught all three Avengers in the blast of the jet and they all blacked out before landing on the ground.

\----------

Tony grunted as he woke to the sounds of punches landing on something soft and squishy. Opening his eyes, the billionaire saw that Clint was getting his ass handed to him by some big, burly HYDRA agent. Not that Clint could defend himself seeing as he was tied to a chair. Steve, on the other side of the room, was still unconscious.

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Tony screamed at the man beating Clint. The man paused before turning to glare at him. It took Tony two seconds to realize he was now in deep shit.

"That... All... You... Got?" came a very soft, painful slur from Clint as the S.H.I.E.L.D agent rolled his head back to look up at the man towering over him. The man snarled before slamming his fist back into Clint's face. Clint grunted and twisted his head with the punch to try and lessen the blow. When it was over, he cracked up laughing.

"You nuts," the man said, sounding rather shocked that the archer was laughing at him. Clint didn't respond. It was Tony's fist sign that something may be wrong with his hearing aids. Obviously, Clint didn't have his sunglasses anymore. That made Tony briefly wonder how well Pepper's idea would work. Maybe tinted contacts might work better? But, how to keep them thin enough to not bother Clint’s normal vision? He had to drop that line of thought when someone else walked in. This looked to be the head person.

"You get an answer?" the person asked. The other man shook his head no. This new guy rolled his eyes before looking over to Tony. "Ah, maybe you could answer."

"Depends," Tony snapped.

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D want with us?" the man inquired.

"Uh... Nothing. Actually we are here to get my tech back," Tony answered honestly. The man frowned and the genius could tell that he didn't believe him. "It's true! Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D was curious as to what you were doing but when they saw signs of my tech, they called me and my friends in to get them back."

"Really? You get your own tech back?" the man incredulously questioned. Tony nodded, surprised that this man didn't believe he was Iron Man. "You? Mr. Billionaire? Mr. Playboy?"

"Uh.... How long has it been since you've seen the news?" Tony countered. The man laughed. "I am Iron Man!"

"And I am the Dalai Lama," the man joked. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Didn't you see my suit?"

"That piece of tin?" the man laughed. Tony frowned before the man pulled a phone out of his pocket and loaded something on the screen. When he turned it to Tony, the genius could see the now ruined pieces of his armor. Shock filled him.

"What the hell did you do to my suit?"

"We had to get you out somehow." Tony just stared at the picture, his heart growing heavy as he realized he just lost another suit. After having promised Pepper that he wouldn't build another one, he was very rapidly running out of suits that he hadn’t blown up that night. Many of them older ones he could likely just fix but this one... This one was a goner. He was gonna seriously have to talk to her or think up a loophole. "I am actually very proud of our work."

"I'm partly surprised you weren't more careful about it. Maybe you could have learned from it and built your own," Tony snarked. The man laughed. This time there was a groan from the other side of the room and Tony finally remembered his two friends in the room with them. Clint had been keeping silent as he craned his neck to look back at Tony and the other man, but without knowing what was going on, the archer couldn't comment. But Steve was just now waking up.

"Ah, Captain! Finally joining us!" the man called. Tony winced. Steve had talked very little about his past. But one big thing he had mentioned was who Tony finally figured out was standing before him. Steve jerked awake in surprise at the once familiar voice.

"Red Skull?" Steve softly muttered before he turned and looked straight into the man's eyes. But distantly, Steve noticed something was wrong. The man’s eyes didn’t look exactly like Schmidt’s. But the man nodded with a pleased expression on his face.

"I had heard rumors that you were working closely with Stark. And so, I figured if I got a hold of some of his tech, then you would come running to help him," Faux Skull mentioned. Steve frowned. The voice wasn’t entirely Schmidt’s either. It was close enough that his mind had first clung to it when he was waking but now he could hear the difference. The main reason now was, why would someone dress up and act like him?

"So wait, all this was a trap for Steve?" Tony asked, not knowing the difference. Faux Skull looked back at him.

"Most of it. I didn't know that S.H.I.E.L.D would have been involved as well," Faux Skull admitted before walking back toward the door. Clint smirked when he finally realized that he'd be able to see Faux Skull's lips and understand what was going on. He had been trying to follow the conversation by reading Tony's lips and when the billionaire mentioned Steve, he glanced over to him.

"So, what do you want me for?" Steve wondered aloud. Faux Skull looked back at him.

"I am dying, Captain," Faux Skull quickly retorted. No one responded to that. Steve's eyes went wide in surprise while Tony hissed a breath of surprise. The Captain’s mind flashed through his memories. Schmidt had the details on the serum. He wouldn’t need Steve. The man knew more about it than anyone right now. This was even more proof that this wasn’t Schmidt. But it finally gave Steve a reason as to why whoever this was was doing what they were doing. "The very serum that changed us both is now killing me."

"And you think I have the answer?" Steve figured, wondering if he could trick this person. Might as well ‘play along.’ He had done as much with the real Schmidt often enough. Faux Skull nodded. "Well, I don't. I don't know what Erskine did to make it work for me."

"Ah, but I will. You see, Erskine wasn't the only one with the serum. Though mine was not complete, I can use our DNA to figure out what I was missing," Faux Skull explained but there was a small hitch in his voice, almost like panic. Steve shook his head. True or not, Steve was never going to allow someone recreate the serum with his blood.

"I won't allow it," Steve growled. Faux Skull smiled.

"I figured that," he said before removing a small device from his pocket and pressing the button. Right away, Steve and Tony could hear a loud, high pitched wail that hurt their heads and made the two scream. Clint winced at the sound as it was apparently at a frequency he could slightly hear but it thankfully didn't bother him as much as it bothered the others. Faux Skull just laughed at it before releasing the button. "That sonic device could do a lot of damage. Well, to make it really hurt you, I needed to up the power and so it could make these two go deaf rather quickly."

"So what, you'll turn that on every time Steve refuses?" Clint finally spoke, suddenly not really caring if he went completely deaf. Tony on the other hand might. Faux Skull glanced down at the injured agent and sneered. He hated dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. Nodding, he then turned back to Steve.

"So, what will it be?"

"It'll be you giving up," Clint declared before surprising the Faux Skull by jumping out of his seat and body slamming the ‘super soldier’ into the door. Under the pressure, it broke and the two collapsed into the hall. With Faux Skull's attention on Tony and Steve for so long, Clint had been able to find some of his smaller weapons in his hidden pockets and used them to escape from his bindings. What sucked the most about the attack, Faux Skull had pressed the button on the sonic device and it was blaring right next to Clint's head. With them in the hall, Steve and Tony had a lessened effect from the device but their screams were just loud enough for Clint to slightly hear over the sonic noise.

"GET OFF!" Faux Skull screamed over the noise but Clint ignored him due to the sounds of his teammates. He had to get that sonic device away from them. Reaching for it, Clint wrapped his hands around the device just as Faux Skull got over his shock and began fighting back. Faux Skull was nearly as strong as Steve but was still just stronger then Clint. The two began struggling, each not losing their grip on the sonic device.

"Give up!" Clint snapped at Faux Skull before decking the man. Surprised, Faux Skull released his grip on the sonic device and Clint's frame. With a quick jab to Faux Skull's gut, Clint snatched the device and jumped to his feet. He was slightly surprised when it got louder.

"Ha! I have made that device so that it responds only to my own hand!" Faux Skull declared before slowly getting to his feet. "You will never get it to shut off before it deafens you and your friend!"

"You should really watch the news some time. That way, you'd find out, I'm already deaf," Clint informed the man before turning around and sprinting off, intent on destroying the device. Faux Skull screamed in rage before making chase after him which left Steve and Tony to do as they wished to escape.

\----------

Clint was found a few hours later. He was a good distance from the warehouse and laying on the ground unconscious. The sonic device was a ruined mess on the ground before him and there were a few new minor injuries to his body. But not a single sign of Faux Skull. Tony and Steve had easily escaped their bonds after Faux Skull and Clint had left and then they promptly went on a rampage that ended up in some exploding tech which exploded the building while they happily watched the place burn. After finding Clint again, Tony was able to use some of their remaining tech that HYDRA had found in their crash site to call into S.H.I.E.L.D for a lift back home. Once there, Clint was quickly brought to the medical area to wait until he woke.

He woke an hour after arriving and was quickly put under numerous tests on his hearing thanks to Steve's and Tony's pressuring. The news they found out from that was not great. Faux Skull's sonic device did as promised. Even after healing as well as they had and even the limited amount of hearing that Clint had after that, the sonic device exploded his ear drums to the point of inability to heal and made him permanently deaf but still around the degrees for him to use hearing aids.

"At least we all got used to this before," Clint had joked as soon as the news was given to him. All the Avengers crowded into the room as they smirked at his joke. Even Fury, Pepper and surprisingly Coulson was in the room as well. "And hell, now we can perfect those hearing aids and even those kickass glasses!"

"Actually, I was thinking wireless contacts," Tony responded.

"Where is the microchips gonna go?" Bruce countered. Tony shrugged.

"We got time to figure it out," Tony declared. Clint smiled.

"Well, we have the best team on the job to do it," Steve mentioned, ending the fighting between the two scientists. Coulson cleared his throat.

"Actually, Fitz and Simmons have been working on aids that can get surgically implanted behind your ears that can give you your hearing back. They can't last through an EMP but they will not be damaged and they'll turn back on in an hour later," Coulson suggested. Clint’s smile grew as Steve huffed in surprise. He looked away from everyone and worked hard on holding in his snort as a memory came to him. But, he couldn’t talk about it and when he turned back, Clint was focused on Coulson.

"Sounds great. Now, are you going to be our handler again?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two days late... Ugh.
> 
> Darius has been doing good. Got to spend some time with relatives that he normally doesn't get to spend time with. He's been active and loves to play 'concert.' I am so sick of Kiss... And what's worse. He only knows like a line or two of a song and he'll repeat it non-stop. Like 'the song that never ends' or 'song that gets on everybody's nerves.' AHHH! Baby Jason is good. Acting like a one year old. And now, a one year old brother! His sister was born on Monday. Baby Aurora is here. Personally haven't spent much time with her which is probably a good thing cause while her parents and her were still in the hospital I had to take care of Baby Jason and spiraled into a depression. Hence the two days late.


End file.
